


The Sonic Boom Shipping Project

by TearsAndFlowers, TheObscureFluffs (TearsAndFlowers)



Category: Sonic Boom (Cartoon)
Genre: Ambiguous Age, Interspecies Relationship(s), Multi, One-Shots, Relationship(s), Romance, Shipping, Tumblr: otpprompts, collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-27 12:08:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 59,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2692412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TearsAndFlowers/pseuds/TearsAndFlowers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TearsAndFlowers/pseuds/TheObscureFluffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shots featuring various character pairings among the characters of Sonic Boom.</p><p>(Note: Many of these stories are based on prompts from the otpprompts tumblr blog. If a story is based on a prompt, that will be stated in the Author Notes. Also, if a story is by "TheObscureFluffs" instead of "TearsAndFlowers", it is a collab done by me and a friend.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Ready for Freddy (Knuckles x Sticks)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine your OTP playing the new popular indie horror game Five Night’s at Freddy’s. Person A is in control of the game while Person B is sitting next to them laughing at how easily scared Person A is. Later that evening Person A gets revenge on Person B by jumping out from behind a wall and scaring them.

"Hey Sticks, whacha playin'?"  
Knuckles didn't get an answer.  
"Uh...Sticks?"  
"Don't distract me!" Sticks snapped.  
Knuckles peered over Sticks' shoulder and looked at the computer screen.  
"Oh, it's that 'Freddy's' game."  
"Oh man..." Sticks was in full panic mode. "Where's the bunny, WHERE'S THE BUNNY?!?!"  
Knuckles laughed. "Oh come on, it can't be that scar--whoa..."  
Sticks had flipped to another security camera in the game. A purple animatronic rabbit stood with its face in the camera's view, its soulless eyes staring at the player.  
"That's a freaky looking bunny..."  
"And it's gonna kill me if you don't shut up!" Sticks replied.  
Then they heard it: a deep, demonic laugh coming from the computer.  
"Freddy's here!" Sticks shouted in fear.  
"But don't you have both the doors closed?" Knuckles asked in confusion.  
"Well yes, but--"  
Sticks was cut off as a loud "SCREEEEEEEEE!" sounded from the speakers.  
Knuckles jumped. Sticks fell out of her chair. Knuckles tried not to laugh, but he failed.  
"Y...you should see your face!"  
Sticks growled. She vowed to get her revenge.

The next day, Sticks had asked Knuckles to come over again later that night. It was about midnight by the time Knuckles knocked on her door.  
"Sticks?"  
The door creaked open. Knuckles peeked inside, but only saw darkness. Confused, he quietly crept into the house, leaving the door open behind him.  
"Sticks?"  
There was no answer.  
"Hello?"  
The silence was broken only by one sound: a cheery, music box type jingle. Knuckles froze. He knew that music.  
"F-Freddy?!"  
An ear-piercing scream was heard, and he felt someone--or something--pounce him, pinning him to the ground.  
"No, don't stuff me into a suit!" he pleaded.  
Then he heard a laugh. But it didn't sound like Freddy's laugh at all.  
"Freddy...why do you sound just like Sticks?!?"  
"Knuckles, it's me," Sticks' voice replied.  
"Wha--"  
The lights came back on. Sticks was on top of him, holding him down. On the other side of the room stood Sonic, holding some kind of speaker device. He was laughing.  
"There, now we're even!" Sticks said triumphantly, jumping off of Knuckles.  
Knuckles slowly got to his feet.  
"Wait...that was you guys?"  
"Sure was!" Sticks replied. She turned to Sonic. "You can go home now."  
"Good, 'cause I'm tired," Sonic said with a yawn. "Heh, we gotcha good, Knuckles!"  
Knuckles laughed sheepishly. "Yep, you got me." He looked down at Sticks. "So...are we good now?"  
"Yeah, we're good now," Sticks said with a wink.


	2. A Visit From Santa (Knuckles x Amy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This could be taken a couple of ways: Either Amy and Sonic broke up for some reason, and Amy is now dating Knuckles, or Sonic and Amy welcomed Knuckles into a polyamorous relationship with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine Person B already has a child from a previous relationship/adoption. The child is a little afraid of Person A at first, but B is sure that both will get along soon. Person A disguises as Santa on Christmas for the child and when the child find out it’s Person A, both hug tightly and Person B joins them, having a happy Christmas together.
> 
> Note: Sadira is my character. (And yes, her father is Sonic.)

“Sadira, this is Knuckles!”  
A small, violet hedgehog cowered behind Amy. Her green eyes were filled with both nervousness and curiosity at the tall, buff figure before her.  
“Um...hi...” she said barely above a whisper.  
“Hi, Sadira,” Knuckles replied.  
Sadira didn’t say anything. She wasn’t even sure what to say.  
“Sadira, Knuckles and I are going to talk for a bit,” Amy said gently. “You can play with your teddy bear, if you like.”  
Sadira nodded. She dashed up the stairs in a purple blur.  
“I think she’s scared of me,” Knuckles said after she was gone.  
“Nonsense!” Amy replied. “She just needs a little push. And I have just the idea!”

\--

“Sadira, wake up!” Amy’s voice sang through the door.  
Sadira awoke with a start.  
“Oh!” she said to herself. “That’s right, it’s Christmas!”  
She ran down the stairs, excited. The Christmas stood proudly in the center of the living room, presents neatly arranged around it in a circle. And on the couch, not far from the tree, sat a tall figure, dressed in a red suit and cap; a long, white beard obscuring most of his face.  
“Santa?”  
“Hello, Sadira!” Santa said, his cheery voice somewhat muffled. “Come sit on my lap and tell me what you’d like for Christmas!”  
Sadira gasped in delight. She sat down on Santa’s knee, and looked up at him, smiling.  
“So, what would you like for Christmas?” Santa asked.  
“I’d like--” Sadira paused as she noticed something. “Wait a minute!”  
“What, is there something on my face?” Santa asked, his voice suddenly sounding very un-Santa-like.  
“Yeah, your fake beard!” And with that, Sadira yanked the beard off of “Santa” with ease, revealing a familiar face.  
“Kn-Knuckles?” Sadira gasped.  
“Um...Merry Christmas?” Knuckles replied with an awkward smile. “Okay, you got me. I’m not Santa. I can’t even fit through the chimney! Trust me, I already tried.”  
Sadira giggled. “I like you. You’re funny!” She hugged Knuckles, surprising him. “Merry Christmas...’Santa’.”  
Knuckles laughed and gently hugged her back. “Merry Christmas, Sadira.”

Amy quietly walked down the stairs and peered around the wall. She saw her daughter and Knuckles on the couch, and she smiled.  
Mission accomplished.


	3. A Bad Dream (Knuckles x Sticks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter refers back to the episode "My Fair Sticksy", so you should probably watch that episode before reading this (if you haven't already).
> 
> And also, "Mr. Beaumont" was just a random name I gave to one of the friends Knuckles made at the Awardies. If his actual name is ever revealed in the show, I will change it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine Person A of your OTP having a horrible nightmare (possibly about losing Person B) that wakes both of them up in the middle of the night. Person B then spends time reassuring A that everything’s okay and soothing them back to sleep.

“N-no...no...”  
Knuckles was stirred from his sleep by the sound of whimpering. He rolled over to his side and saw Sticks, who was asleep beside him, twitching and mumbling to herself.  
“No, this can’t be happening...”  
“Sticks.”  
Knuckles tried to nudge Sticks awake, but to no avail.  
“No...”  
“Sticks! Wake up!”  
Sticks’ eyes shot open. “Wh-...Knuckles?”  
“It’s okay Sticks, you were just having a bad dream.”  
Sticks stared at Knuckles for a moment. Then she pinched herself.  
“Phew, I’m so glad I was dreaming.”  
“What were you dreaming about?” Knuckles asked.  
“W...we were at the Awardies...and Stufferbot was about to shoot you...b-but...Mr. Beaumont didn’t push you out of the way, and...and...y-you...d-d-died...” Sticks was starting to cry.  
“Shhh, it’s okay Sticks,” Knuckles comforted. “I’m not dead. It was just a bad dream.”  
“You sure you aren’t dead?” Sticks inquired, just to make sure.  
“Well, there’s one way to find out.”  
Knuckles gently pulled her towards himself, pressing her head against his chest. Sticks listened for a moment.  
“Okay, you’re not dead!” Sticks declared, satisfied.  
“See? Everything’s fine.” He kissed her on the head. “Goodnight, honey badger.”  
“Goodnight,” Sticks yawned. She soon fell back asleep in Knuckles’ arms, her head still pressed against his chest. The reassuring presence of his heartbeat drove the nightmares from her mind for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that wasn't too out-of-character.
> 
> Do you like Knuckles' nickname for Sticks in this? It just kind of popped into my head, and I thought it was clever and cute.


	4. Blue Christmas (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Since Sonic and Amy like each other in the show, this takes place in an alternate universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Person A is growing depressed as the holidays approach because the recent loss of their parents mean that this will be their first holiday season they spend alone, but person B is a long time friend and notices, and invites person A to spend the holidays with them and their family, leading to them growing closer and eventually person A admitting long held feelings for person B that had grown more intense due to the kindness they had been shown.

Knuckles sighed. The streets were covered in snow, colorful lights were strung up as far as the eye could see, and carolers could be heard as they went from house to house. These were clear signs that Christmas was coming. Normally Knuckles would've been literally jumping for joy, and excitedly trying to guess what presents he was getting. But this year, he couldn't even crack a smile.

For most of his life, Knuckles had lived completely alone. He didn't even remember his parents all that well. But he had always hoped that they were out there somewhere, still alive and searching for their son. Those hopes had recently been crushed when their graves had been found, apparently having been there for several years now.

Knuckles watched sadly as excited children were walking home with their families, getting ready to spend the holidays together. No matter how hard he wished he did, he didn't have a family to celebrate with. Sure, he had wonderful friends, and they meant the world to him; but it just wasn't the same. His friends' love for him couldn't replace the love of a family. And now he knew that he'd never experience that kind of love.

Knuckles found himself where he always went when he was deep in thought: the beach. He sat down on a large rock and stared blankly at the ocean. The cool breeze and sparkling starlight were his only company tonight. Or so he thought.  
"Hey Knux!"  
Knuckles jumped, startled a bit. He hadn't noticed that Sonic was standing next to him, nor had he heard him approach.  
"Oh, hi Sonic," Knuckles greeted quietly.  
Sonic noticed his friend's gloomy mood. "You're thinking about your parents, aren't you?"  
Knuckles nodded, not even glancing towards Sonic. Sonic sat down next to him.  
"I'm so sorry," he said sympathetically.  
Knuckles only grunted in reply.  
Neither spoke again for a few minutes.  
"So, um..." Sonic finally broke the silence. "I know it probably won't help much, but you're welcome to spend Christmas with us."  
"Thanks, Sonic."  
There was another long silence as the two sat together, staring at the beautiful night sky.  
"Well," Sonic said, getting to his feet, "sorry to leave so soon, but I have things I gotta do before the holidays start."  
"Okay," was all Knuckles said.  
"Hey." Sonic lightly patted his friend's back. "Hang in there."  
It was hard to tell in the dark, but Sonic could've sworn Knuckles was blushing a little.  
"Th-thanks."  
As Sonic sped off, Knuckles facepalmed. This was hardly the appropriate time for this to happen, and yet, another feeling had shown itself. One he thought he had buried deep down inside. He had liked it when Sonic had touched him like that. It was the kind gesture of a friend, but it had meant so much more coming from Sonic. In the confusion of feeling both heartbreak and the return of a long-held crush, Knuckles silently wept.

\--

Sonic sighed.  
"Hey Sonic, what's wrong?"  
"It's nothing, Tails."  
"Come on Sonic," Tails replied, "you can always talk to your little brother."  
"Well..." Sonic flopped down on Tails' couch. "Knuckles has been really sad because of his parents, and I just wish there was something I could do."  
"Hmmm..." Tails thought for a moment. "Did you invite him to spend Christmas with the rest of us?"  
"Well yeah," Sonic replied. "And besides, he comes every year anyway. I'm just...worried about him, I guess. I just don't like seeing my friends all sad like that, you know?"  
"Yeah, I get what you're saying." Tails seemed thoughtful about something. "You know...he seems to be particularly fond of you."  
"Uh...what do you mean?"  
"I mean, I think he likes you."  
Sonic's eyes shot open. "You mean...'like' like? As in..."  
"Yes. I think he has a crush on you."  
Sonic sat in a stunned silence. After a minute, he spoke again. "I...I never thought..."  
"I know you're probably feeling kind of awkward," Tails said, "but I think you should take some time to spend with him on Christmas. Even if you don't return his feelings, I think spending time with you would help make his holiday a little better."  
Sonic was thoughtful. "You know, Tails...I think you're right. Thanks for the advice, buddy."  
"Any time!" Tails replied. "So, um...what do you plan on doing?"

\--

"Christmas shopping?"  
"I know it's really last minute," Sonic said. "But better late than never, right? I can help you pay for any presents you wanna buy. Or we can just look at stuff. I know you really like those singing doll things. You don't have to get anything. We know you’re going through a hard time, so we won’t be offended."  
Knuckles thought for a moment. He was still feeling depressed, but a chance to hang out alone with Sonic was hard to pass up. He answered with a simple nod.  
“Then let’s get going!” Sonic tugged on Knuckles’ arm, and the two headed to the store.  
Sonic pretended that he hadn’t noticed Knuckles blushing.

“Feel free to wander around,” Sonic said once they were in the store. “I still gotta get something for Tails.”  
As Sonic sped off, Knuckles began to look around. The store had recently been expanded, and the new size of the place had him in awe. There were warm, glowing lights strung up all around, and decorations of all kinds were displayed everywhere he looked. Despite the recent construction, the layout of the store was mostly the same. His body went on auto-pilot, and he soon found himself standing in front of a familiar shelf. The Christmas items on it were different every year, but they were generally the same type of toys. This time, there was a row of Christmas tree plushes with smiling faces. Knuckles reached for one of them and felt around for a button. He found it and pressed it, and the tree began to dance and sing. Despite his sadness, Knuckles couldn’t help but smile. These things were adorable.  
“Looks like you found ‘em,” Sonic suddenly said behind him.  
“Merry Christmas everybody!” the tree toy said in a cartoony voice, followed by a cheerful laugh. Its song had finished.  
Knuckles pressed the button again, and the tree sprang back to life. He couldn’t help but giggle softly as he watched. Sonic smiled. He liked seeing his friend happy, even if for just a moment. Besides, he was adorable when he was happy.  
 _Wait, did I really just think that?!_ Sonic felt his cheeks grow warm. As he watched Knuckles play with the singing tree toy, he realized that Knuckles was, in fact, really cute. _Am I...am I crushing on him?_ He wondered.  
“You know what, Knuckles?” Sonic said aloud. “If you want that, I’ll pay for it. Consider it an early Christmas present.”  
“Are you sure, Sonic?” Knuckles asked, surprised.  
“Yes, I’m sure! Plus, you could use some cheering up.”  
Knuckles gently picked up the little tree plush and held it close. “Thanks, Sonic.”  
 _Oh my gosh, Sonic realized. I think I_ am _crushing on him._

\--

A couple of days after the shopping trip, it was Christmas Eve. A small party was being held at Amy’s house that night. Amy herself was busy getting everything ready for the occasion, with Sonic and Tails helping her out. For some reason, Tails kept whispering things to Amy, who giggled in response. Sonic wondered what they could possibly be talking about.  
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Amy had answered when Sonic had asked about it. “We’re just, um...discussing some things for tonight!” She shared a sly look with Tails, and Sonic didn’t get any other answers out of either of them.

Late that night, all five friends were at the party. Sonic had dared Knuckles to an eggnog drinking contest, Sticks was raving about the Christmas trees being secret weapons sent by aliens, and Amy and Tails still seemed to have something up their sleeves (or lack of sleeves).

After a while, Sonic and Knuckles quickly declared the match was a draw, and then rushed off to the bathroom to throw up the entire contents of their stomachs. Amy and Tails took this as an opportunity to put their plan into action. You see, Tails had noticed a change in Sonic’s behavior when he had returned from Christmas shopping. When he asked Sonic how Knuckles was doing, he got only a slight blush and some awkward stammering in response.  
“Come on Sonic,” Tails had said, “what are you so embarrassed about?”  
“I, um...well...”  
“Sonic...you’re not...are you...?”  
“I...I think so, Tails.”  
The two knew each other well enough that they could communicate with barely a word.

Now, Tails, with the help of romance expert Amy, was going to try and make both of his friends happy. They just needed a little “push”, as Amy had put it.  
“Okay, Tails,” Amy said, “when Sonic and Knuckles come back, I’ll make an excuse for us, and we’ll leave for a bit so they can have some alone time.”  
“What about Sticks?” Tails inquired. “How will we get her out of the house?”  
“We’ll tell her we’re investigating the aliens,” Amy replied.

When Sonic and Knuckles finally came out of the bathroom, they flopped down onto the couch, groaning.  
“You two just make yourselves comfortable!” Amy told them. “We’re going out to look at Christmas trees.”  
Sticks’ ears perked up. “I’m coming with you guys,” she said. “Someone’s gotta protect you from the aliens!”  
Before any more words could be said, the three left, leaving Sonic and Knuckles completely alone.

“So, um...” Sonic tried to break the uncomfortable silence.  
“So...”  
“Uh...”  
“It’s...it’s kinda chilly...”  
“Yeah...I guess Amy didn’t turn the heat on.”  
“We should find some blankets.”  
“Yeah. We should.”  
But after searching the entire house, they only managed to find one available blanket. Their only choice at this point was to share it. As they scooted closer together to share the warmth, they both turned their heads away to hide an oncoming blush.  
“So...” Sonic said again. “How’ve you been?”  
“I’ve been fine.”  
“Th...that’s good...”  
“So, um...are there cookies? I think my tummy feels better now.”  
“I think so. One of us has to get up to get them, though.”  
“I don’t feel like getting up.”  
“Me neither.”  
Knuckles glanced over at Sonic. He decided to test the water and wrap an arm around him. He expected Sonic to flinch and pull away, telling him not to do that. But to his surprise, Sonic seemed to relax into his half embrace. Knuckles felt butterflies in his stomach.  
“You know I’m here for you, right?”  
“Hm?” Knuckles had been distracted for a moment. “Oh, yeah. Thanks, buddy.”

The two sat in silence for what may have been an hour.  
“I have to go the bathroom,” Sonic finally said.  
Knuckles was disappointed, but he didn’t let it show. After Sonic had gone, he slowly got to his feet and stretched. As he did, he spotted something that he hadn’t noticed before: a plant of some kind was hanging from the ceiling. He walked over to it curiously. After a closer inspection, he recognized the plant as mistletoe. He knew that people liked to hang it up on Christmas, but he wasn’t really sure why. Just then, Sonic came back from the bathroom.  
“Hey, is that mistletoe?”  
“Yeah,” Knuckles replied. “Sonic?”  
“Yeah?” Sonic walked up to Knuckles and stood beside him.  
“Why do people hang up mistletoe on Christmas?”  
“Well, um...” Sonic’s face flushed, and he hoped Knuckles didn’t notice. “Thing is, when two people stand under the mistletoe, they’re, um...they’re...supposed to...k-kiss...”  
“Oh.” Realization hit Knuckles like an anvil. “Ohhhhh...”  
“I-I mean, we don’t have to do it...”  
“I, um...well...” Knuckles’ face had turned as red as the rest of him. The butterflies were back, too.  
Sonic noticed this. He knew what Knuckles wanted, but Knuckles was too embarrassed to tell him. Sonic knew only he could give Knuckles what he wanted for Christmas the most.   
“Knuckles?”  
Knuckles turned his head. Before he could respond, however, Sonic’s arms were pulling his face down towards his, and suddenly their lips were making contact. Knuckles was stunned for a moment. Could this really be happening?  
Sonic broke away from the kiss, his face now as red as Knuckles. He smiled sheepishly. Knuckles stared at him for a minute. Then he started pinching himself, which made Sonic chuckle.  
“No, Knuckles, you aren’t dreaming.”  
“A-are you sure?”  
“Yes, I’m sure.” Sonic wrapped an arm around Knuckles, like the latter had done for him earlier. “You know, Knux, I’ve been noticing how you act around me.”  
“Y-you have?” Knuckles hung his head low. “Aw, man...”  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You know, I’ve been thinking...you’ve been wanting a family to spend Christmas with...I know I can’t replace your parents, but...”  
“Sonic...what are you trying to...”  
“If it’s okay with you, I’m willing to give ‘us’ a shot.”  
“Y-you mean...”  
Sonic smiled at his friend. Then he suddenly found himself buried in a big bear hug.  
“Oh, thank you thank you thank you...”  
“Can’t...breathe...” Sonic wheezed.  
“Oh, sorry.”  
Knuckles put Sonic down. “Thanks, Sonic,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. “This is the best present ever!”  
“Hey...whatever happened to Amy and the others?” Sonic realized.  
“Huh...” Knuckles replied. “We should probably go looking for them.”  
“Yeah.”  
Knuckles gently took his hand. “Shall we?”  
Sonic grinned.

\--

“I told you the Christmas trees were extraterrestrial weapons!”  
“Fine, Sticks, you were right,” Amy groaned.  
“Quick, help me look for a blue box!”  
“Hey Sticks, wait!” Tails yelled, chasing after the crazed badger.  
Amy sighed. “Maybe we should’ve just gotten an aluminum tree this year.”

THE END


	5. Sonic the Stuffed Animal (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I like to think that this story takes place in the same universe as "Blue Christmas" (though obviously much time has passed between stories).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine Person B going away for a business trip. To comfort A, B gives them a stuffed animal that resembles them in a way. Because of the resemblance, they name it after B. While B is away, A cuddles with the toy and carries it wherever they go until B comes back.
> 
> Note: "Anthrope" is a term that some Boom fans on tumblr use for characters like Sonic and his friends (the two-legged animals). This term may be used in some of the stories here (including this one).

"Aw, do you have to go?"  
"Sorry Knuckles, I have to go to this conference," Sonic replied. "I'll only be away for a few days."  
Knuckles still wore a sad, puppy-like face.  
"Here, I got you something." Sonic handed Knuckles a hedgehog stuffed animal. It looked more like a non-anthrope hedgehog, but its color was a similar blue to Sonic's own quills.  
"I knew you'd get lonely," Sonic explained, "so I got you this to keep you company."  
Knuckles gazed down as the plush toy he'd been given. He smiled. "Thanks, Sonic."

\--

After Sonic had left, Knuckles didn't once let the stuffed animal out of his sight. Because of its resemblance to his life partner, he named it "Sonic Jr". He was cradling it in his arms like a child when he heard a knock on the door. When he answered it, he found Amy standing outside.  
"Hi, Knuckles!" she greeted. "I had some leftover cookies from the potluck yesterday, and I thought you might like some!"  
"Thanks, Amy!" Knuckles shifted the stuffed animal he was holding to just one arm, and used his free hand to take the basket from Amy.  
"Aw, that's a cute stuffed animal!" Amy commented.  
"Sonic got it for me so I wouldn't be lonely," Knuckles replied.  
"Aw, how sweet of him! Well, I gotta go now. My cat is probably getting impatient with me."  
"Well, tell little Mittens I said 'hi'!"  
"I will. Bye, Knuckles!"  
"Bye, Amy."

\--

Knuckles sat on the couch, the basket of cookies seated next to him. He held the stuffed hedgehog close to his heart as he flipped through the TV channels.  
"Why does Sonic like these 'pawn shows' so much?" he wondered aloud. He landed on a channel showing a bright, cheery cartoon. He put down the remote and grinned.  
"Come on Sonic Jr, let's watch some cartoons!"

\--

For the next few days, Knuckles carried the stuffed hedgehog everywhere he went, always holding it tight like his life depended on it. He would talk to it a lot of the time, and even gave it a "tour" of the island.

By the time Sonic returned a few days after leaving, it was late at night. When he entered the bedroom, he was greeted by the sight of Knuckles sound asleep, snuggling the stuffed hedgehog close to his heart. Sonic smiled. He put down his briefcase and climbed into bed next to his partner. Knuckles stirred, his eyes slowly fluttering open.  
"I'm home," Sonic said quietly. "You wanna cuddle with the real deal?"  
Knuckles didn't need to be asked twice. He wrapped an arm around Sonic, pulling his close to his own body. With Sonic Jr squished between them, the two fell fast asleep.


	6. Just Friends (Sonic x Amy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I apologize for how short this is. I would've liked to add more, but I felt that the place I ended it was a good place to do so.
> 
> Also, the other character in this story is just someone I randomly made up. (At first she was intended to be my OC, but I realized that this character behaved quite differently from her, so I just made her some random fox.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine your OTP are still in the ‘just friends’ phase of the relationship even though other people constantly mistake them for a couple.

"Sonic, how about we get some lunch?"  
"Sure, Amy."  
The two hedgehogs approached the food stand.  
"What can I get for ya?" a vixen running the stand asked. Her eyes seemed to study them both closely for a moment.  
"What do you want, Amy?" Sonic asked his friend.  
"I'll get whatever you're getting," Amy replied with a smile.  
"Okay," Sonic turned back to the fox, "I'll take two chili dogs."  
"Coming right up!" The fox replied. She gave them a sly wink before she went to start cooking the hot dogs.

Sonic and Amy were seated at a table, just chit-chatting, when the lunch lady came with their food.  
"Here ya go, two chili dogs!" She winked at them again. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone to enjoy!"  
Sonic and Amy stared after her as she walked away.  
"Wait..." Sonic started.  
"D-did she think..." Amy realized.  
Sonic and Amy's faces both flushed instantly.


	7. Awkward First Encounter (Eggman x Barker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, you read that right. This is about Eggman and T. W. Barker.
> 
> I really ship it as more of a crack pairing though, so any stories I write about them will probably be very silly. (Like this one, for example.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Person A is fighting a duck for their pants and is losing, while Person B is on a bench at the park watching it all happen. (Based off of [this post](http://obviousplant.tumblr.com/post/110856189863/the-valentines-day-desperation-is-growing).)

"Hey!"  
Eggman wasn’t sure how, but a duck was starting to pull his pants off. Not an anthrope duck, just a plain, ordinary duck. He hadn’t put any weapons in his pants today, and any other form of defense he had left in the Eggmobile. He was now fighting a duck for his pants…and losing horribly.  
"Great, the one day I decide to go for a stroll in the park, this happens!"

Meanwhile, an anthrope wolf was sitting on a nearby park bench. He had been deep in thought about how to find new “recruits” for his circus, when he was jolted out of his thoughts by someone yelling. He looked up and spotted a man. A man with his pants halfway down his ankles. His pants were being gently tugged off of him by a duck. The wolf rubbed his eyes, not sure if what he was seeing was real. After all, it’s not everyday that you see someone fighting a duck for their pants.

"Get away from my pants!" Eggman yelled. But the duck didn’t listen, or probably didn’t understand Mobian. He heard someone burst into laughter nearby. Annoyed, he turned his head and saw the wolf sitting on the park bench. Just then, he felt his pants slip off. He looked back at the duck, who was now awkwardly running off with his pants.  
"Hey, get back here!" Eggman yelled in rage. "Good thing I wore underwear today, or this would be even worse…"

The wolf just couldn’t help but laugh at this absurd situation. Then he saw the man’s pants come off completely, exposing his white-with-red-hearts underwear. As the man began to chase the duck who was currently attempting to fly away with his pants, the wolf realized with great embarrassment that he had been staring at the man’s rear end a little too long.  
"What is the matter with you, Barker?" he muttered to himself.

This was the very first encounter between Doctor Eggman and T. W. Barker.


	8. Rough Sleep (Knuckles x Sticks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This was an collab between me and tumblr user sonic-nyoom.
> 
> As you may or may not notice, this story shares some similarities with "A Bad Dream", a previous Knuckles/Sticks story in this collection. Personally though, I think this one is far superior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine person A’s reaction to waking up in the middle of the night and hearing person B quietly crying next to them in bed.

The rain lightly pitter pattering outside, Sticks the Badger was slowly stirred from her sleep. It was still dark out, and at first, she assumed that some otherworldly force had removed the sun. However, she then realized that it was still nighttime, and something had woken her up. It certainly wasn’t the rain, so…

Sitting up and looking around, Sticks quickly caught sight of the huddled form next to her; Knuckles. He was curled up and shaking slightly, his back facing her. Worried, she lifted her hands up and placed them on the echidna’s arm, staring down at his face. He seemed very distressed.  
"H-hey," she said, her voice unusually soft for what was expected from someone like her. She then shook him in an attempt to wake him up. Knuckles didn’t seem to respond. He did, however, let out a small whimper. The whimper soon turned out to be quiet sobbing. He began to shake even more as he cried in his sleep. Sticks jumped at the sobbing, then slowly crawled over to Knuckles’ other side, placing her hands on his cheeks.  
"Knuckles… Knuckles!" she called out, this time a little more loudly.  
Knuckles began to stir. After a few moments, his eyes fluttered open. His face was stained with tears.  
"Wh-wha…Sticks?"  
Sticks frowned at him. “What happened? You were shakin’ for a while,” she asked, looking around around warily as if she expected some sort of spirit to have possessed him in his sleep.  
"I-it’s nothing…" Knuckles said nervously. His eyes shifted around, avoiding Sticks’ gaze. "Don’t…don’t worry about it…"  
Sticks frowned more sternly, getting a little in Knuckles’ face. “You’re lying.” She poked his cheek in disapproval. “You’re not hiding something from me, are you?” she asked.  
"H-hiding something? No way!" Knuckles laughed nervously. "Everything’s…f-fine…" His voice shook as he spoke. It sounded like he might cry again.  
Sticks frowned, then wrapped her arms around the echidna’s waist. “Don’t you lie to me,” she murmured, her voice lacking its original sternness.  
Knuckles sighed. “Okay…I-I…I was having a bad dream. B-but I’m a tough guy, I can…handle i-it…” His vision began to blur as fresh tears formed in his eyes.  
Sticks saddened, her ears flopping down at the sight. She thought for a moment, then stood up and reached above Knuckles’ head, making strange hand gestures.  
"Wh-what are you doing?" Knuckles asked. He sniffled, wiping at the tears in his eyes.  
Sticks looked at him. “I’m banishing the bad thoughts surrounding you,” she said, continuing to make the weird hand gestures, looking like she had no idea what she was doing.  
Knuckles couldn’t help but crack a small, sad smile at that. “Thanks, but I’m not sure that’s going to make my bad thoughts go away.”  
Sticks frowned, sitting back down. “Then what happened?” She held his hand. “Did the government take over in your dream?”  
"No, nothing like that," Knuckles replied. "I, um…well…ever have those dreams about things that actually happened? Like…bad things?"  
Sticks was silent for a moment, then nodded her head. “Yeah. What about it?” she asked, raising a brow.  
Knuckles sighed. “I was dreaming about…p-people calling me stupid and stuff…I tried to prove I wasn’t, but…I just kept messing everything up…”  
He hung his head low. “Maybe they’re right…” Tears trailed down his cheeks.  
Sticks’ ears perked and that, and she quickly grabbed Knuckles’ hands in her own. “Who said that? Who told you that!? I’ll pound ‘em!” she said, her voice nearly cracking from the intensity of her tone.  
"A lot of people…" Knuckles sniffled. "I guess people have always been saying that about me."  
Sticks let out a small gasp, then shook Knuckles a bit. “You better not be including me in that! What do they know anyway!?” She nearly screamed that, hating to see her boyfriend feeling like this. “Know what I say? They’re the stupid ones, not you! We save the day all the time and no one’ll give you the credit you deserve! It makes me so—!!”  
She paused, panting slightly from how emotional she was getting. She was silent for a moment, then softened her expression, her ears drooping down slightly as she pressed her body against Knuckles’ chest.  
"…You’re not stupid, ya dummy…"  
"Th-thanks, Sticks." Knuckles wrapped his arms around her in a hug. He let out the sobs he’d been trying to hold back. "Wh-why do I—" he hiccuped from crying so hard, then resumed, "Why d-do I always get so hurt by it? I-I’m supposed to be…the tough g-guy…"  
Sticks grunted and lightly punched his arm. “You are tough, but no one can be tough all the time…”  
She looked around almost warily, then stood up and leaned close. “Even me,” she whispered, as if she had just revealed the biggest secret in the world. She then licked one of his tears away and gave him a slightly awkward smile, hoping that she could succeed in reassuring him. She didn’t believe that she was good at comforting others, as Amy always avoided the subject when she asked.  
"Th-thanks, Sticks." Knuckles wiped his tears with one hand, then resumed hugging his girlfriend. "I don’t know where I’d be without you."  
Sticks put a hand to her chin. “Wouldn’t you still be here? I’m not the one who found you in the first place and—” She paused, blushing lightly as she caught Knuckles’ meaning, then hugged him back, letting out what almost seemed like a purring noise from the echidna’s warm embrace.  
"Thanks, Sticks. I feel a lot better now." Knuckles lightly kissed Sticks on her head. "I love you."  
Sticks blushed a bit. If they were in public, she would’ve been a lot more disapproving of the gesture, but when they were alone, she had to admit that it was really nice. She could actually relax when he held her and not get all held up on her conspiracies.  
"Y-yeah, I love you too," she said softly, relaxing against him.

After a while, Knuckles yawned. His eyelids felt heavy as his sleepiness caught up to him. “Well, I think we should get some sleep.”  
Sticks nodded, feeling tired herself, even more so since she lived out in nature for so long and found the sound of the rain outside to be relaxing because of it. “You’ll be alright?” she asked. “I’m not gonna leave you to fight bad dreams on your own,” she muttered, lightly poking his chest. “I’m staying right here.”  
"I’ll be fine as long as you’re here," Knuckles replied with a smile. He laid back down and got nice and comfy, then snuggled closer to Sticks.  
Sticks let out a content hum, then snuggled back and slowly drifted off to sleep.  
Knuckles gently kissed her cheek.  
"Goodnight," he whispered. Then he too fell asleep. And instead of nightmares, his dreams were now happy and peaceful.


	9. Going into the Closet (Eggman x Barker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: ...okay, I think I legitimately ship this now. xD
> 
> So yeah, another collab here! In fact, there's going to be a lot of those in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine person A getting stuck in person B’s closet while hiding from ~~person B’s parents~~ Sonic, who don’t know about person A and Person B dating.

"SABOTEURS!"

  
Barker nearly threw Eggman's remote at the screen as the two watched the newest episode of _Hedgehog Abbey_. He crossed his arms, pouting over the newest plot twist.  
"Can you believe they did that!?" he asked, directing his hand towards the screen.  
"I know, right?" Eggman agreed. He was clearly just as angry, if not even more so. "I mean, what what they thinking?!"  
Barker nodded and let out a huff. "Agreed."  
However, he was briefly interrupted from his moment of anger as a sound went off throughout the lab, making his ears twitch slightly. "What the devil is that? An alarm?"  
"Yeah, that would be my security system," Eggman replied, annoyed by the interruption. He went to check his security monitor.  
"It's that blasted blue pineapple again!" he exclaimed angrily, slamming a fist on the control panel.  
Trying not to snicker at Eggman calling Sonic that, Barker walked up and gazed at the monitor. "Well that's just great," he said sarcastically. "Should I summon your robots?"  
At that moment, the nearest door could suddenly be heard being pounded on. "Yo, Egghead! Open up before I bust the door down!"  
Eggman began to panic, trying to think as quickly as he could. "Uhh...quick, go hide in my closet! I'll deal with him."  
Barker blinked blankly at him. "The...the closet? Why--" He quickly realized; if Sonic knew that they had a thing...  
  
Welp.  
  
He scrambled about suddenly, scurrying into the closet and slamming the door behind him. He panted for a moment, then gazed around at what he could see.  
"...Oh, wow, his boot collection is actually quite lovely."  
  
A loud slam then resounded throughout the room as Sonic knocked Eggman's door down, standing proud. "Alright, Eggman, what are you up to?" he asked. "You weren't down at my place at the usual time for your daily battle with me! What're you planning!?"  
  
_Ohh yeah, Hedgehog Abbey got pushed back in the timeslot, didn't it..._  
  
"P-planning?" Eggman realized that he'd been so caught up in watching _Hedgehog Abbey_ with Barker, he'd completely forgotten his daily scheme plotting.  
_Well, this is embarrassing..._  
He cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, what I'm planning...um..." The Doctor was racking his brain for something to say.  
Sonic raised a brow. The doctor was unusually nervous rather than the usual, "blarg, I'll turn you into a fur coat, you blasted blue rodent, raaa," and—  
He paused, his nose twitching somewhat as a scent caught his nose. Was that... cologne?  
He sped closer and took a small sniff to make sure, then stepped back, holding his hands up with a smug smirk on his muzzle. "Dude, if you're having a clown over for a date, you shoulda just warned me." He couldn't imagine anyone else who'd date the guy.  
"D-date? What are you t-talking about?" Eggman was starting to sweat nervously. Then something else Sonic had said registered. "Clown?! You mutant blue rat, how dare you call him tha--" He slapped a hand over his mouth.

  
Barker couldn't help facepalming on the other side of the closet door. He was flattered that Eggman was so quick to defend him, and it certainly made him a bit flustered, but for a genius, he was a real moron sometimes.  
  
Sonic meanwhile blinked, his eyebrow slowly rising at the doctor's words. So... he did have a date... that was a guy...  
He literally had no comeback.  
"I, um..." Eggman had no idea what to say. There was a long, uncomfortable silence.  
  
Finally, Eggman cleared his throat nervously. "So...I...uhh..." He avoided eye contact with Sonic.  
While his boyfriend was still _in_ the closet, he had just come _out_ of the closet, so to speak.  
  
"...So... what?" Sonic tried to shake off his shock and put his smug look back on. "Is it that 'Soar' guy that Orbot was talkin' about? Got back together after you fired 'im?" He chuckled. "Or maybe you programmed one of your robots to have the hots for ya?" His chuckling started to turn onto full-on laughter. "Oh, no, wait! I bet it's the Bark-guy that took me to court! You two are such lame brains; you're perfect for each other!"  
Eggman's face turned red with anger. "Hey, don't you dare call him that! T. W. is not a 'lame brain'!" He clenched his fists. "You best watch your tongue, rodent!"

  
Barker continued to blush behind the closet door.  
  
Sonic blinked, deadpanning. Eggman was denying nothing; they were legitimately dating.  
"...You're serious. You're actually serious right now."  
Eggman realized his second slip-up of the day. His face flushed pink in complete embarrassment. He sighed, knowing it was useless to deny it now.  
"Yes," he replied quietly. "I am serious."  
His heart pounded as he waited nervously for his arch-nemesis to respond.  
  
The closet door promptly opened, a red-face Barker stepping out silently and standing next to Eggman; no point in hiding now, was there?  
He said nothing, as there wasn't anything left to say. Though, despite the fact that he wasn't a hand-to-hand combat kinda guy, he'd do his best to knock the blue hedgehog's lights out if he dared to laugh at them now.

  
Sonic crossed his arms, putting the pieces together. "So this is why you've been all quiet lately? You've been datin' Barker?" he asked.  
"Yeah." Eggman placed a hand on Barker's shoulder. "That's why."  
He was glad to have his boyfriend there beside him as he faced this very awkward situation.  
Barker nodded, moving his hand up to place it over the one on his shoulder.  
Sonic frowned, not quite sure how to bite back at that. It was probably an embarrassing relationship to be in, but...  
"...Pft, what, y'think I care?" The hedgehog waved a hand dismissively and snickered. "Yeah right, Eggface! I'm happy to have an extra guy to mess around with whenever I come bargin' in on another one of your dumb schemes!" he said. He wouldn't add it on because the two would likely bother him more, but he was quite pleased that Eggman would be less persistent with him now that Barker was around; he didn't want the guy to stop being his main villain to scramble, but a break every now and then would be nice.  
"S'long as ya don't start mackin' on each other halfway through a battle, why should I care?" he asked, giving a wide grin at the two. "Whatever. No robots to fight, so I'm out! Don't do anything evil or I'll have to come in and blah blah blah sorry about the door!" he added very insincerely before suddenly speeding out of the lab, exiting just as quick as he had entered.  
  
Barker paused, red from the hedgehog's earlier statement, then coughed. "W-well, that way... relatively painless, I suppose..." he muttered.  
"Can't imagine how his friends will react though...they're sure to find out now that that blue rat knows about us." Eggman glanced down at the floor. "I, um...sorry about my outburst, by the way. I'm not good at keeping secrets, am I?"  
Then a thought occurred to him, and he grinned. "Well, I suppose we're both 'out of the closet' now, eh T. W.?"  
Barker's ears perked, and he chuckled lightly. "Ahah, I suppose so... and don't fret, it was bound to happen eventually."  
  
He went back over to the couch and flicked the TV back on, rewinding to where they were last before the interruption.  
"Now let's continue, hm? Just know that I won't be responsible if your TV gets broken by the end of this," he said, showing a light pout as what happened on the episode so far came back to his memory.  
Eggman sat down next to him, snuggling close to him. As their show resumed, he reached behind Barker and began lightly scratching him behind the ears, grinning mischievously.  
Barker instantly let out a stubborn grunt, then did his best to glare at the doctor.  
"I-I thought we talked about this," he murmured, despite his tail swishing against the doctor's waist.  
"Admit it, you love it when I do this."  
Eggman continued what he was doing, chuckling lightly as Barker's enjoyment was betrayed by his wagging tail.  
Barker twitched his ears in reply, turning his face away as he hit Eggman's side with his tail as hard as he could.  
"Shut up." He waited a few seconds, then allowed a small smile to show.  
Eggman smiled victoriously at his boyfriend. His scratching turned to a gentle, affectionate rubbing as he turned his attention to the TV.  
"Oh no he didn't!"  
Barker quickly looked back at the TV. "What? What happened--!?"  
He quickly stopped, realizing that he just gave away the fact that he was too invested in the sensation in his ears to pay attention to the program. He huffed, covering his face with a hand.  
"...H-heh... well, if you ask me..." He chuckled, hoping to deviate from his slip-up. "Sonic's the one who needs to date a clown." He smirked. "A sad one."  
Eggman gave him a knowing grin. "I agree."  
  
_The end!_


	10. "Eh'm Nawt Seck!" (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another collab!
> 
> Oh yeah, this takes place in an AU where Sonic and Amy don't have a thing for each other. So, kinda like my older "Blue Christmas"-verse, but it's a completely new thing. xD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is not prompt-based.

"Eugh..."  
  
Sonic cringed and gripped the fabric of his hammock, feeling like his head was spinning faster than he could run. Though he was generally at the utmost health, he had a stroke of bad luck the day before and was now stuck being sick. Despite being offered medicine and a trip to the doctor, he adamantly refused both, insisting that he was fine; the last thing he wanted was to be trapped at home for who knew how long.  
  
He looked around, catching sight of Knuckles off on the other side of the room. His friends were taking shifts with taking care of him, and while he didn't mind the red echidna's presence, he still believed that he'd be fine on his own.  
  
"...Aaayyy..." he groaned, pointing a hand at Knuckles, though his precision was off as his vision was going in and out of focus. "S-stop multiplyin' an' go home already..."  
  
Maybe he was sicker than he thought.  
  
Knuckles was confused. "I'm not multiplying...I don't even like math! And besides, I'm supposed to stay here and look after you."  
"I don't..." Sonic paused for a moment, grunting and gripping the edge of the hammock. "I don't need your lookin'. Just fine on ma' own."  
To prove his point, he pulled himself forward and attempted to get up.  
...Only to roll over and plummet to the floor, letting out a small yelp upon impact.  
"...Who put tha' floor there..."  
  
Knuckles went over to Sonic and gently picked him up, placing him back into his hammock.  
"Still think you're 'just fine'?" He crossed his arms and smirked at Sonic.  
"Mmph..." Sonic hid his face in the hammock slightly. "S-shaddup..."  
"Stay there," Knuckles ordered. "You need to rest."  
Sonic gazed at Knuckles, doing his best to give a stern pout, but it was hard to be angry at him. "F-fine..." he murmured, rolling onto his other side so his back was facing Knuckles. Admittedly, it was kind of nice to be taken care of, but he'd never admit that and he just wanted to be back on his feet again.  
  
As he stood there beside his sick friend, Knuckles remembered something. "Hey, I think it's time for you to take your medicine."  
Instantly, Sonic jerked his head back, giving Knuckles a slightly more aggressive glare. "I told ya; I ain't gon' take that stuff! S'gross!" He made a disgusted face and stuck his tongue out for emphasis.  
Knuckles gave him a stern look. "If you wanna feel better, you gotta take it!"  
Sonic let out a soft 'hmph'. "S'yeah right! I run on Sonic pow'r! Tha's all I need to get bett'r!" he said.  
He paused, then draped an arm over the edge of the hammock, giving Knuckles a smug smirk. "'Sides, y'can't read, can ya? Y'don't know what med'cine to give me," he argued.  
Knuckles opened his mouth to argue, but he realized that Sonic was right. He looked down at his shoes in shame, sighing.  
Sonic's ears twitched at the sigh. "Ehh? Wha's wrong?" he asked, stable enough to at least see that Knuckles was suddenly sad.  
"You're right," Knuckles said sadly. "I can't read, and I don't know what to give you..." He didn't say it, but he felt like such an idiot. "I'm not a very good caretaker, am I?"  
Sonic perked his ears up and he quickly frowned. He had meant it in more of a teasing way, but he recognized that he wasn't quite in the right mind right now.  
"A-ay." He squirmed, struggling to push himself towards the edge of the hammock and sit up. "Hey..."  
He reached up, despite his dizziness, and placed a pointed finger on the echidna's cheek. "You're f-fine," he said, struggling to not slur his words. "You're doin' more than okay, 'kay?" The finger he had pointed with relaxed as Sonic moved his entire hand onto the echidna's soft cheek.  
Knuckles blushed at the gesture. "Th-thanks." He felt like his stomach was full of butterflies, and it confused him.  
Sonic partially closed his eyes, feeling the dizziness settling in again. "Mm... yer cheek's warm..." he muttered, though he quickly realized what he said and retracted his hand, laying back down on the hammock, mentally heckling himself for saying something so weird.  
"Um...thanks?" Knuckles was disappointed when Sonic removed his hand from his cheek. This made him feel even more confused.

Sonic blushed slightly, though it was hard to tell since his face was already red from being sick. "S-so, wha' do we do now?" he asked, promptly sighing. "Doesn't look like I can do much..." He groaned, hating to admit it.  
"You still have to take your medicine," Knuckles reminded him. "Though I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to give you."  
Sonic grumbled under his breath, hating the confinement and hating the fact that he felt sick and weird. Reluctantly, he pointed over to a table nearby that had medicine bottles scattered over it. "...The pink one," he mumbled.  
Knuckles grabbed the bottle. Thankfully, it was one of those medicines that came with a mini measuring cup, which had the recommended dose marked with a thick black line. He filled the cup up to the line, and then held it up to Sonic.  
"Sit up and drink this," he ordered.  
Sonic stared at the cup, dreading its contents. He pouted childishly, still not wanting to take it, but Knuckles seemed firm about it.  
He sighed, slowly sitting up and reaching for the cup, though he quickly realized that his hand was shaking far too much; he'd spill most of the medicine before it got to his mouth.  
Knuckles gently grabbed his hand and helped him steady it. "The sooner you take it, the sooner you'll feel better."  
Sonic blushed in embarrassment, wishing he had the energy to at least pretend he wasn't sick. "Y-yeah, I know..." He hesitated, then drank the cup's contents in one large gulp, after which he began to cough over dramatically from the horrid taste. "U-ugh!"  
  
He flopped back down on the bed and crossed his arms. "Nnn... gonna get you back f'that someday," he mumbled, though he didn't really mean it.  
"There you go, that wasn't so hard now was it?"  
Knuckles put the medicine bottle back on the table.  
"So, um...anything else I can do for you?"  
Sonic glanced over at him. "...Still feelin' bad?" he asked.  
"Nah, I'm fine," Knuckles replied.  
Sonic nodded, then placed his hands behind his head and tried to relax. "J-j'st stay by me, I guess... s'good enough."  
He then tried to find the window. "Uh, what time is it?"  
Knuckles looked out the window. "Looks like it's afternoon," he said.  
"Ugh," Sonic breathed softly, weakly kicking one of his legs out. "My ment'l clock's off too then..."  
He glanced around, then looked up to Knuckles. "Wha's there to do 'round here?" he asked. It might've been his house, but he wanted to put the reins in Knuckles' hands, especially after the slip up earlier.  
Knuckles thought for a moment. "We could play video games, if you're feeling up to it."  
"Sur'am!" Sonic slurred out, pumping his fist into the air, though regretting that decision immediately because it swayed the hammock a little. "U-ugh, I c'n beat you anyday," he said, rolling onto his side and gazing at the TV. "...Prob'ly..."  
  
Knuckles got out the game controllers and turned on whatever game was currently in the console. He couldn't read the title screen, but he was pretty sure it was one of those fighting games. He grinned.  
Sonic held out his hand, trying to keep it as stable as possible. "G-gimme the thing," he said, referring to the extra controller in Knuckles' hand. "I'm 'bout to take you to sc'ool."  
Knuckles handed him the extra controller. "We'll see about that!"  
Sonic nodded and did his best smirk despite his sick state, gripping the controller lightly. He was laying sideways, so it was a little awkward for him, but he did his best.  
  
Once the two had their characters picked, the battle began. Sonic grimaced, biting his bottom lip and frantically pressing buttons. He was putting up a mild challenge against Knuckles, but he was forgetting combos and the block button was slipping his mind (not that he used it anyway, but it would've been useful here).  
  
Because of Sonic's current state, Knuckles soon won the game.  
"Heh, you did pretty good for being sick," he said to Sonic. He figured his sick friend would be upset about losing, so he decided not to rub it in.  
Sonic pouted, but couldn't help smiling at the fact that Knuckles didn't rub the victory in his face. For such a tough guy, he sure was kind...  
"T-thanks..." he said. He stared at the TV, then got an idea. "Wait, I c'n just sit betw'n your legs so I can sit up th' whole time," he suggested, knowing that it'd help if the screen wasn't sideways from his eyes. Almost excitedly, he gripped the edge of the hammock and tried to pull himself off, but was a little too fast in doing so. He suddenly gripped the edge with both hands in fear of falling to the ground again, the front of his body dangling awkwardly off the side with his face inches from the floor.  
"U-uh... hello, ground," he muttered, not having the strength to pull himself up.  
Knuckles couldn't help but laugh a little at this. "Here, let me help."  
He stood up and went over to Sonic. He carefully lifted Sonic in the air and brought him over by the TV. He sat back down again, with Sonic sitting between his legs.  
"Is that better?"  
Sonic nodded, anxiously staring at the screen like a child. "Mmhmm! A ton!"  
He leaned back, his quills bending downwards against Knuckles's chest and stomach. "That ain't too 'ncomfortable, is it?" he asked.  
"Nah, I'm good." Knuckles blushed again at having Sonic's body so close to his own. He started a new game.  
Sonic's hands were still shaking slightly, but now he was determined.  
  
The game resulted in another loss for Sonic, but he felt like he just needed to get used to the controls in his sick state. "Again!"  
  
The two continued the game for a while, playing for at least a few hours; Sonic unfortunately only scored a quarter of the victories, but he'd accept it as long as he won a little. It was weird; he didn't get that down when he lost to Knuckles. At the very least, most of the matches were close. Regardless, he couldn't help pouting a little.  
"Ngh, don't tell an'body," he murmured, trying to stare up at Knuckles' face from the position he was in.  
"I won't," Knuckles replied with a smirk. He thought he felt Sonic's body shivering slightly. "Hey, you okay?"  
Sonic nodded. "A-a'course." He hugged himself at first, but quickly crossed his arms instead. "Why wou'n't I be?" he asked. He was actually starting to get cold, probably because he was sick and thus more sensitive to it; there's no way he'd admit it though.  
  
"Hey, Knuckles!"  
Sonic jumped slightly at the voice, turning his head to see Tails standing right outside his nonexistent door. He wasn't sure why he was so stunned by the fox; he was just sitting between Knuckles' legs, and it wasn't like they were doing anything weird. Still though, he looked away, flustered.  
"Oh, hi Tails!" Knuckles then realized why the fox was here. "Oh...it's time for your shift, isn't it?" He tried to hide his disappointment.  
Sonic was confused. He too was disappointed, but why? Tails was just taking over the shift. They were like brothers, and yet...  
"Ngh..." He curled up into a ball and awkwardly rolled away from the echidna to sort out his thoughts.

Tails raised a brow, then walked inside. "Yeah, I just finished some stuff I've been working on and realized that it was my turn." He chuckled. "I also figured you'd want some time away. We both know how Sonic gets when he's sick."  
"Y-yeah..." Knuckles suppressed a sigh. "Thing is, um..." He lowered his voice. "I know this might sound weird, but...c-can I stay just a little bit longer?" He turned his face away, trying to hide the slight blush that was coming on.  
"...Huh? I mean, sure, I guess, but... you don't have to. I'm perfectly fine with taking over," Tails told him.  
He walked closer and placed a hand on Knuckles' forehead. "You're not sick too, are ya?" he asked, figuring that could be the only reason why he wanted to stay; maybe he was a bit loopy too...  
"I'm fine, Tails. I just...well..." Knuckles glanced over at Sonic nervously, his blush becoming more difficult to hide.  
Tails paused for a moment, becoming unusually quiet, then giggled. "Don't worry, I believe you. Sonic's probably gonna be asleep soon anyway," he said with a shrug. "See ya later then!"  
  
And after a short wave, the fox was gone. Curious, Sonic uncurled, though shakily and nearly falling over from the motion, and looked over at Knuckles. "Y'wanna stick around?" he asked. "Why?" Even he knew he could be trouble when he was sick.  
"Well, I...um..." Knuckles' face flushed even more. "I-I just wanted to...spend more time...with y-you..." He realized what he'd said, and hid his face in his hands in embarrassment.  
"...Oh..." Sonic said, surprised and blushing slightly. However, the cold quickly caught back up with him and he began to shiver again, curling up into his spindash from once more and rolling around uneasily in a fruitless attempt to get warm. "N-nnggh..."  
"Sonic...are you cold?" Knuckles asked, suddenly feeling concerned. "Do you have a blanket?"  
"P-pft, ha!" Sonic scoffed; or at least, he tried to scoff. "I'm f-fine. Who needs a-a blanket?"  
Looking around, the house indeed seem to be lacking in blankets; though considering it was Sonic house, it wouldn't be completely out of the question to assume that he just braved the cold and his sickness just made things worse.  
"Sonic, you're shivering like crazy!" Knuckles went over to Sonic and sat down next to him.  
"Here."  
He wrapped his arms around Sonic and held him close to his body, the hedgehog's head against his chest, hoping that his body heat would help Sonic stop feeling so cold.  
Instantly, the hedgehog stopped shivering, and he relaxed slightly against Knuckles. His ego kept telling him to protest, but honestly, he was too comfortable to care. "Mmm... s'nice..." he muttered, a blush dusting his cheeks as he partially hoped that Knuckles wouldn't hear him.  
_Ugh, why am I blushing so much today?_ Knuckles wondered. His cheeks were growing warmer and warmer as he held his friend. His stomach was doing flip-flops. Was he...no, it couldn't be. But all of the signs Amy had once told him about were there.  
_Do I...have a crush?!_  
  
Sonic's ear twitched as he heard Knuckles' heart beat faster. "Ay..." he mumbled, lightly poking the echidna's chest. "D'n't go quiet on me now. 'M gonna fall asleep on ya ot'erwise..." he warned, hoping to get him talking a bit.  
"Do you feel warmer now?" Knuckles asked.  
Too prideful to give a verbal response, Sonic just nodded. "...Y'sure you're alright though?" he asked, his ear twitching as it monitored the echidna's heartbeat. "Y'seem nerv'us..."  
_Aw snap._  
"D-do I?" Knuckles realized that his heart was pounding. "I'm fine...t-totally fine! Everything's fine."  
Sonic stared up at him, his half-lidded eyes trying to see what was wrong. He definitely wasn't cold. Was it something he'd said? Sonic couldn't recall anything he had said in the past few minutes that could've caused him to become so nervous...  
  
He hated not knowing.  
  
"C'mon..." the sick hedgehog whined, lightly pounding a fist onto Knuckles' shoulder. His exhaustion was getting to him somewhat, but he tried to ignore it. "Y'were always the emotions guy; 'least more than me. I'unno what's goin' on in yer head, but y'usually talk t'me if som'ing's really both'ring you..."  
He leaned into Knuckles, a soft yawn escaping his throat. "S'one of the things I love 'bout cha..."  
There was a small silence, and just as Sonic's eyes were about to shut completely, they suddenly opened again. He blinked; had he said anything weird just then? He remembered saying... something. What was it?  
Knuckles' eyes shot open when Sonic's words caught up to him. Did he say he...loved him?  
_Nah,_ he thought to himself, _he probably meant it in a friend kind of way..._  
But even still...it was rather unusual for Sonic to say something like that...  
  


Finally, Sonic's words caught up with him. _Oh... uh oh..._  
He slowly brought a hand up to his face to hide the blush forming there, but his ears denied him that luxury by turning red themselves. "Y-you, uh... d-didn't hear that, did you?" he asked, nearly squeaking.  
"Y-yeah...I did..." Knuckles answered nervously. He noticed his friend's embarrassment, and wondered, _Did...did he just...confess?_

Sonic's blush intensified. Great. Just great. He inwardly cursed his tendency to speak without thinking, especially since that wouldn't save him now; even his quick mind was drawing a blank. What was he supposed to say? That he didn't mean it? While he didn't intend for it to come out, he couldn't say that it was just sick talk; that'd be a lie.  
Knuckles took a deep breath. _Well, here goes nothing..._  
"Sonic...do you love me?"  
Knuckles could feel himself sweating as the words tumbled out. What if he'd misunderstood? What if Sonic laughed at him? What if...  
Sonic gulped nervously, having to hold back a gasp in fear of Knuckles hearing it. He wasn't scared, nope. Absolutely not.  
  
...Probably.  
  
"Uh... e-ehehe..." He forced a chuckle. "So h-how 'bout we get back to that game, huh?"  
He squirmed out of Knuckles' grasp, but was quickly stunned by the cold air and ended up right back in the echidna's arms.  
...Well, no getting away now...  
He struggled for words, then finally gave in and hung his head in defeat, feeling like he was guilty of a crime.  
"...Yeah..." he admitted. "I-I'm no good with this 'feelsy' stuff, but... p-pretty sure..."  
Knuckles couldn't believe it at first. Had he heard right? Was he dreaming?  
As he felt the hedgehog's head resting against his chest, and heard his nervous breathing, he realized that this wasn't a dream.  
  
As the reality of Sonic's words finally sank in, Knuckles' heart leaped for joy. He gently squeezed Sonic in a hug, being careful not to crush him. He sniffled as happy tears began to form in his eyes.  
Sonic yelped as he was hugged by Knuckles, letting out a small squeak of surprise. He definitely hadn't expected that reaction. Did that mean he... loved him back?  
...Sonic mentally slapped himself. Of course it did; you don't just happily hug the friend who just confessed to you if you don't have the same feelings. It was weird for him to doubt himself like that...  
  
"M-mpf..." He definitely enjoyed the hug, but his face must've been so red at the moment. "Y-you shouldn't be h-huggin' me, dummy. I'm all gross n' sick."  
"That's okay," Knuckles replied. "I-I'm just...I'm so happy! I don't even know what to say!"  
"Y-yeah, I could tell!" Sonic exclaimed, chuckling. "But I don't want you gettin' sick!"  
Knuckles frowned, but realized that Sonic was right. With a reluctant sigh, he let Sonic out of his embrace.  
"A-ah, hey..." Sonic whimpered, no longer afraid to show his disappointment. "Still cold, y'know. Just... b'careful, a'ight?"  
Not used to openly accepting a hug like that, he blushed and lightly scratched his nose. "Great though, now m'all red. Don't think even I c'n make that look cool..."  
Knuckles smiled. He held Sonic close to him once more.  
  
It was getting dark outside, and it wouldn't be too much longer until the stars came out. Thanks to Sonic's non-existent door, the two would easily be able to see the beautiful starry night.  
Sonic sighed peacefully, closing his eyes. Knuckles wasn't going to tease him? Heh, he was such a softie...  
  
"Mm... hey, Knux? We're a thing now, right?" he asked, a small smile appearing on his face.  
Knuckles' smile widened. "If you'll have me." He sighed contentedly, all of his nervousness fading away. "I-I...I love you."  
Sonic quickly put a hand in front of Knuckles' face to prevent him from seeing his blush. "Y-yeah, love ya too; j-j'st save the mushy stuff 'ntil I'm well enough to hide th' red paint on my face," he joked.  
"...But, uh..."  
He brought his hand back, giving Knuckles his best puppy dog face. "Does this mean you'll lemme have a chili dog?" he asked, having been refused them since he got sick; it was likely to upset his stomach after all with all the spices.  
Knuckles looked away from Sonic's pleading gaze, trying his best to stay strong.  
"You know you can't have chili dogs while you're sick," he said sternly. "But...tell you what: once you get better, we can go out for chili dogs. Okay?"  
"Really?" Sonic said, that childish spark in his eyes once again.  
He then smirked, wanting to make Knuckles turn red on purpose this time. "Like a date?"  
It worked. Knuckles' face flushed for what must've been the 50th time that day.  
"S-sure..." he answered bashfully. "It's a date."  
Sonic laughed cheerfully despite his light blush. "It's a date," he repeated to confirm. He snuggled back into Knuckles' grasp. "Now warm m'up and help me get better so w'can speed th'process along. Y'know how impatient I am." While he was right, he'd actually never been more impatient for anything in his life; he'd swallow as much medicine as Knuckles gave him if it meant getting to their date faster.  
"Sure thing, Sonic."  
Knuckles sat there holding Sonic for what seemed like hours (and it might as well have been). He enjoyed every minute he spent with his new boyfriend.  
And steadily, the two watched the stars and ended up falling asleep in each other's embrace.  
  
Supposedly, Sonic got better surprisingly fast.

_The end!_


	11. Tickle Fight (Eggman x Barker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Eggbarker collab!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Imagine person A of your OTP sneaking up on person B and attempting to tickle them. Finding out that B isn’t ticklish, A starts running to save themselves from B’s now wiggling fingers. B tackles and tickles the life out of A.

Barker sat at one of Eggman's desks, scratching his head as he tried to think up a new scheme. Eggman had always told him he was attractive; perhaps he could scam some women by flirting with them?  
...He blushed and put a hand over his face. Of course Eggman would say such things; they were dating, after all. Besides, even if it didn't mean anything, it wouldn't feel right.  
"Augh, Barker, you've gone soft," he mumbled, scrunching up another piece of paper and tossing it into the trash. He was currently staying with Eggman, so money wasn't technically a huge issue at that moment, but he still wanted to wanted some extra funds to spend on the dear doctor for whenever had a rough fight with Sonic and the others.  
 _Hopefully I'll think of something before he gets back. I don't want to be stuck on this all day and not spend any time with him._  
  
He was so invested in his scheming that he didn't hear the door open.  
  
Doctor Eggman entered the room, grinning to himself. He tip-toed across the room, trying to sneak up behind Barker. Good thing he had invented shoes that made his footsteps quieter.  
He suppressed an evil chuckle as he raised his hands in the air, wiggling his fingers. Then, without hesitation, he launched a tickle attack onto Barker.  
  
However, much to his dismay, even though Barker jumped slightly from the surprise of there being someone right behind him, he didn't laugh in the slightest. Steadily, he turned his head, gazing at Eggman with a raised brow. "You're home? What are you doing?"  
Eggman froze, confused and a little embarrassed. "Uh...t-tickling you...?"  
This certainly wasn't going anything like the doctor had planned. Could it be that Barker...wasn't ticklish?  
"Oh?" Barker asked, intrigued. He glanced back at the papers on the desk, then turned his full attention to Eggman, swishing his tail back and forth in an almost mischievous way.  
"Should I take your actions as a challenge then?" He smirked, raising a hand and flexing his fingers.  
 _Uh oh._  
Eggman began to sweat nervously. "I, uh, I think I left the oven on."  
And with that, he turned and began to run out of the room.  
"Nice try!" Barker proclaimed, rushing towards Eggman and jumping up. Even though he was the lighter of the two, he was good with throwing his weight around. Putting all his weight on the doctor's shoulders, Barker toppled him over and began tickling him as furiously as he could. "Ahah! You can't escape T. W. Barker!"  
"S-stop it!" Eggman squirmed and involuntarily laughed as he was relentlessly tickled by Barker. His plan had completely backfired, and now he was getting a taste of his own medicine.  
Barker's smirk widened. "What? Keep going? Gladly."  
His tail swished out from behind him, joining in on the fray to assist him in tickling Eggman. "Ah, I believe you're at a disadvantage!" he chimed.  
Eggman's protests went completely unheard as he was tickled to death. He flailed around, hardly able to breathe as he laughed uncontrollably.  
Barker cackled, extremely entertained by Eggman's helpless laughing. "This is what you wanted to do to me? I'd say you were asking for it!"  
"Okay, okay, lesson learned!" Eggman yelled desperately with the breath he had left. "Please st-stop!"  
"Ahah! You surrender?" Barker asked, his motions slowing down but not stopping.  
"Yes, yes, I surrender! Please stop!" Eggman pleaded. His stomach ached from laughing so hard.  
Barker continued for a few more seconds just to make Eggman think he may never stop, then ceased his actions and got off of him, his tail wagging back and forth mischievously. "Well, you certainly managed to alleviate my stress."  
Eggman gasped for breath. "Gl-glad...I c-could...help...ugh..."  
Barker nodded, then held a hand out to Eggman and smiled. "Alright now. Up."  
Eggman smiled back. He took Barker's hand and slowly got to his feet.  
Unfortunately, Barker miscalculated how much tugging he was meant to do to help Eggman, and ended up falling right onto the doctor as soon as his strength was relied on for support.  
"U-urk..." He blushed, feeling like he had just lost all dominance.  
Eggman managed to catch him, narrowly avoiding falling over himself. He smirked at his embarrassed boyfriend.  
Barker stuttered at first, then let out an embarrassed huff and stood back up, straightening his jacket. "That didn't happen."  
"As long as you tickling me to death also didn't happen," Eggman replied. He was winking, but it was impossible to tell since his eyes were not visible.  
"Ahh, very well," Barker said, pretending to be reluctant about it; he wouldn't really tell anyone. "Only if you'll allow me to take you on a date tomorrow." He put on his usual grin.  
"Sounds good to me," Eggman replied, grinning himself. "Just add a marathon of _Dancing with the Robots_ onto that, and you've got yourself a deal!"  
Barker faked a sigh. "Ah, you're hopeless... but sure," he said, nodding his head. "I'd love yo—I-I mean, love to." He blushed. He didn't say 'I love you' often, wanting to keep some of the dominance since Eggman was the more affectionate one in the relationship.  
Eggman's grin widened as he raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm, what was that I heard?" he teased. "Did I hear an 'I love you'?"  
Barker's blush intensified, and he quickly tried to hide it. "A-absolutely not, you foolish oaf," he lied, placing his hands behind his back and walking past the doctor.  
"Uh-huh, sure," Eggman replied sarcastically.  
He walked up behind Barker and wrapped his arms around him, snuggling into his fur and keeping him from going anywhere.  
Barker let out a light yelp, then looked back at Eggman. "...Alright, alright, fine." He sighed, though smiled slightly, inhaling the surprisingly nice scent of Eggman's clothing. "I love you, okay?"  
Eggman chuckled victoriously. "And I love you, T. W.!" He squeezed Barker into a hug.  
"Aaaaugh, fine, fine!" Barker couldn't help himself; Eggman's afffections were rubbing off on him. He reached around Eggman's arms and hugged them as best as he could. "...Don't expect this to be a regular thing..." He chuckled.  
Eggman didn't respond. Instead, he gave Barker a small kiss on his head. He giggled at his boyfriend's increasingly red face.  
  
Then they heard the door open.  
  
Barker's ears shot up, and he squirmed in Eggman's grasp as Orbot and Cubot walked in.  
"Eggman, sir—" Orbot was quickly interrupted as Barker threw the nearest object - a wrench - at him. It bounced off and the robot blinked confusedly.  
"B-bolts for brains! I-I..." Barker turned away, embarrassed that he'd been caught in the act.  
Eggman's face flushed. "Would it bother you two to knock first?" he asked the bots, clearly very annoyed.  
"Sorry, boss," Cubot said. "We didn't mean ta'."  
The fur on Barker's tail stood on end, and he just pointed to the door. The two robots simply nodded and left.  
  
"I hate you," Barker told Eggman with a huff, grabbing his tail and smoothing it out. "Y-you owe me two dates now..." He stared over at the doctor, then looked away, hating how flushed he was getting. "A-and don't look at me!" he ordered; he simultaneously hated and loved the look Eggman gave him when he saw him blushing.  
Eggman couldn't help but laugh at Barker's flustered state. "Two dates it is, then. So...anything in particular you want for the first one?"  
"Hm...just like what we agreed on before is fine," he said.  
Despite how he wanted to feel, he couldn't be mad at Orbot and Cubot. They were Eggman's creations, after all, so they held a place in his heart even if he'd never admit it.  
  
Slowly, he glanced back at Eggman, a somewhat sentimental smile of his face that he rarely showed.  
Yeah, he'd gone a little soft, but as long as it was for Eggman, he didn't mind.  
  
 _The end!_


	12. Late Night Emotions (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another collab! This takes place in the same universe as our other Sonknux collab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The inspiration for this actually came from "Rough Sleep", which was a Knuxicks story. After we did our first Sonknux RP, sonic-nyoom suggested doing something similar to our Knuxicks RP, but with Sonknux instead. It ended up turning out much different from the other story, but still shares a similar basic concept.

"Mmgh..."  
  
Sonic yawned slightly, then slowly opened his eyes. It was probably around midnight - way too early to wake up - but Sonic quickly recognized the noise that woke him; it was Knuckles' voice. The two practically lived together at that point, and Sonic managed to get something close to a bed for his secret boyfriend to sleep on; there was no way the two would fit on the hammock together without things becoming super awkward, and Sonic was still a little too confused about his emotions to really sleep next to the echidna.  
  
He sat up, his legs dangling over the side of his hammock as he stared down at Knuckles. He was curled up slightly, shaking and shivering. He looked scared; really scared.  
  
"K-Knux?" Sonic called, getting down and walking over to him. He placed his hands on him and shook lightly, but there was no response. "Knuckles!"  
He grimaced; Knuckles was probably having some sort of nightmare. He couldn't imagine what it was about, but he'd have to find a way to calm him down once he woke up and the thought worried him; he wasn't that great at comforting others.  
 _...Ahah!_ Sonic snapped his fingers, getting an idea. _Maybe I could get him some water; that should help cool him down once he's up._  
Looking around though, the hedgehog realized that there weren't any bottles of water in his house.  
 _S-shoot!_  
He tried one last time to shake Knuckles awake, then stood up and jogged over to the door. Tails wasn't that far away, and he usually had water on hand for when he was working; he could run there, sneak in, grab a few bottles, then leave.  
"I'll be right back, Knux!" he said, despite knowing that his voice wasn't likely to be heard.  
He then took off for Tails' place, hoping that Knuckles would somehow be sleeping calmer when he got back.  
  
Just after he left, Knuckles woke up in a sweat. His heart was pounding, and he took a moment to catch his breath.  
 _Phew, it was just a dream._  
He sat up, expecting to see Sonic in his hammock--but he wasn't there.  
"Sonic?"  
His boyfriend was nowhere to be found. He started to panic as he recalled bits and pieces of his nightmare.  
  
 _"It's over, Knuckles!"  
"No, please! Don't leave me! I'm sorry! Please..."_  
  
Knuckles began to cry fearfully. Sonic had left him in his dream, and now he was gone in real life too. What if his nightmare was coming true?  
  
In roughly a couple minutes later, Sonic returned in his usual blur of blue light, holding up two water bottles. "Hey, Knux, I—"  
He paused, seeing Knuckles breaking down on the makeshift bed. He swallowed nervously and lowered his arms; he expected him to be a little stunned by the nightmare, but not like this. It made him cringe.  
  
"H-hey, what's up?" he asked, frowning as he walked up to him. "You were shakin' earlier. Bad dream?"  
Knuckles looked up at him, his eyes red and tears streaming down his cheeks. It was absolutely heartbreaking to look at.  
He tried to answer Sonic's question, but all he could manage was a whimper.  
Sonic flinched seeing Knuckles' face, feeling his heart aching at the sight.  
Instantly, the water bottles were abandoned on the floor, and Sonic walked forward; he'd have to try something else, as water clearly wouldn't help now.  
"Knuckles... it's alright, okay? It was just a nightmare," he said, placing his hands on Knuckles' shoulders in an attempt to reassure him. He didn't know what right he had to really say that. He hardly knew what was wrong; he just didn't know what else to do.  
"S-S-Sonic..." Knuckles' voice was shaking as he struggled to speak between sobs. "P-please b-b-be hon-honest...d-do you...l-l-love m-me?"  
His vision was blurred from his tears, and he could barely make out Sonic's face. His voice did sound concerned, but how could he know for sure if Sonic was being sincere?  
Sonic raised a brow, flabbergasted. "W-wha? Knux, a'course I do." He got closer and gripped Knuckles' shoulders even tighter. "What made ya ask somethin' like that?" He frowned worriedly; had he done something recently?  
Knuckles sniffled. "I-in my dream, you...l-left me...said I w-w-was...s-st-stu-stupid...y-you were so a-angry, a-and I...I w-was sc-sc-scared..." He then gave up trying to speak as more sobs racked his body.  
Sonic gasped, shocked at what he was hearing. "I'd never do that!" he told him.  
If it were anyone else, he probably would've been angry that they didn't trust him enough to believe that from the start, but he knew that Knuckles had a bit of a self conscious side. People generally never called the echidna stupid when he was by his side, but he was sure it happened when they were apart. Sometimes Knuckles would come home with a slightly somber look in his eyes, but Sonic could rarely get him to talk about it; even when he did, he'd never go into detail about who said it, probably out of worry that Sonic would clobber whoever said it. Granted, he totally would, but that was beside the point.  
"Knuckles, I care about cha a lot! I wouldn't up and leave ya, especially not like that!"  
Knuckles wanted to believe him, but he was hesitant. People had betrayed his trust several times in the past, so he was scared of it happening again.  
"D-do...do you promise?" He sniffled. "C-can I trust y-you?"  
"What kinda question is that? A'course you can trust me!" Sonic replied, resisting the urge to shout at him; that wouldn't do any good.  
Despite his words, Knuckles' demeanor still didn't seem back to its normal self. Sonic had seen this a few times before, but it had never been this bad. He didn't get self conscious moments himself, but he also couldn't even imagine how hurt he'd be if Knuckles broke up with him, so he felt some sort of connection there.  
Sonic sighed, wrapping his arms around him. "Knux...." He paused. "...Knuckles."  
He had to do something; he was sure of that at least. Above all else in their relationship, Knuckles enjoyed the close contact and affection he'd receive; Sonic wasn't the touchy-feelsy type, so naturally it made Knuckles feel special whenever he was the exception.  
Sonic could feel a bit of guilt setting in at the thought. He hadn't been as affectionate in their relationship as he probably should've been; they didn't even sleep together. Maybe that caused his nightmares, or maybe it didn't, but it didn't matter anymore. Knuckles needed affection, and Sonic was going to give it to him and prove how he felt.  
  
He pulled away slightly and resumed gripping Knuckles' shoulders, giving him that soft gaze that no one else got. His heart was beating and he was near tears from seeing his boyfriend so broken up, but he wouldn't dare let that show.  
  
Then, without warning, he rushed forward and kissed him, his face turning a deep shade of red.  
It made sense for him to be so flustered. It was their first kiss, after all.  
Knuckles was too stunned to react at first. His face was flushed, and he felt an explosion of butterflies in his stomach. His cheeks grew very warm. He had wanted this for so long, and now here he was, experiencing his very first kiss.  
Once he recovered from his shock, he wrapped his arms around Sonic and kissed him back. The world around him seemed to disappear as his heart beat faster than it ever had. It was almost as if time itself had stopped.  
Sonic's ears perked as Knuckles kissed him back. He had actually been extremely worried when he made the first move. Despite his confident attitude, he'd never kissed anyone before, so he had no idea how to do it. He only knew that he had to try. His heart was still racing, but since he was being kissed back, he could feel relieved; he must've been doing something right if that was happening.  
  
After a moment, Sonic finally pulled away, his breathing a bit more audible than usual. He plopped down to the floor, but stayed in Knuckles' embrace and rested against his chest, still a bit stunned from the sensations rushing through him.  
 _So... that's a kiss, huh?_  
  
Knuckles still had tears streaming down his face, but they were now happy ones.  
"That...was amazing," was all he could say.  
Sonic was silent for a moment, then snapped out of his almost trance-like state. "O-oh, yeah! Mmhm, for sure!" He blushed and sheepishly scratched his cheek.  
"So, uh..." He was almost afraid to ask, but he gently took Knuckles' hand in his own and looked up at him, deciding to do so anyway. "...feel better?"  
Knuckles blushed. He nodded, smiling dreamily at his boyfriend.  
"Yeah. Thanks, Sonic. I dunno what I'd do without you."  
"No problem. Heh, feeling's mutual," Sonic said, nodding back to him.  
"...Don't ever think that way again, alright?" he asked. "I'm not goin' anywhere. Yeah, I'm sure there's gonna be people out there who want me, but I've already got my hedgehog heart set on someone special." He smirked. "Guess who?"  
"Huh? Who?" Knuckles scratched his head.  
Sonic chuckled. "I'll give ya a hint. He's red, tough, and just as awesome as I am," he said. "And he's got a heart as big as he is." He reached up and lightly poked Knuckles' nose. "He's also riiiight here!"  
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sitting on him, am I?"  
Sonic burst into laughter. "Knux, it's you! We're dating after all, aren't we?"  
Even though most found Knuckles' cluelessness annoying, Sonic actually thought it was kind of cute.  
"I love ya, alright? Nothing's gonna change that." He usually wouldn't sound so mushy, but he figured Knuckles deserved it for today; he'd spoil him a little and hopefully that'd help him get used to things.  
"Ohhhhh..." Knuckles smiled sheepishly. He blushed. "I love you too."  
He threw his arms around Sonic and squeezed him affectionately. "Thanks, Sonic. That means a lot to me."  
"I know," Sonic said with a giggle.  
He glanced around, then caught a glimpse of the makeshift bed in the corner of his eye. "...U-uh, so!" He hid a blush. "I'm thinkin' about maybe changin' my sleeping plans for tonight," he told him. "The hammock isn't really doin' it for me any more."  
Knuckles was surprised.  
"But where else can you sleep?" he asked, confused.  
Sonic was a little concerned at that statement. Was Knuckles being clueless, or did he just not want to be next to him? Too soon, maybe?  
  
 _Well, worth a shot, I guess..._  
  
"I was thinkin'... maybe..." He pointed to the makeshift bed, which was easily big enough for the two of them. "there?" He smiled sheepishly.  
"But isn't that where I'm slee--" Knuckles suddenly realized what Sonic was getting at. "Ohhh..."  
He blushed and smiled. "I'd love that," he said with a wink.  
Sonic winked back, mentally sighing in relief. "I would too." He got out of Knuckles' grasp and crawled onto the bed, rolling over until he was on the opposite side. "Now let's get back to sleep. I'm exhausted." He yawned for emphasis.  
Knuckles yawned as well. "Me too."  
He got onto the bed and rolled over to face Sonic. He snuggled close to the hedgehog, wrapping an arm around him. He hoped that Sonic didn't mind if he cuddled with him.  
Sonic squirmed uncomfortably at first, his face flushed red, but he quickly relaxed and laid his head down. "H-heh... if this is okay with you, it's okay with me." In reality, his heart was pounding so loud that he wondered if Knuckles could hear it, but he figured he'd get used to it.  
Knuckles kissed him on the cheek.  
"Goodnight."  
Sonic smiled peacefully, his heart finally starting to go back to normal. "G'night."  
  
And Knuckles didn't have any more nightmares.  
  
 _The end!_  



	13. Not Quite Done (Eggman x Barker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Eggbark collab!
> 
> Note: This takes place before all of the other Eggbark fics, except for "Awkward First Encounter".

It was an ordinary day in Eggman's lair; just following the usual schedule. Orbot and Cubot were busy repairing some of the broken-up robots from Eggman's last fight with Sonic, and everything seemed to be going fine.  
  
But then a feeling of tension could be felt near the room. The entrance to the door opened up, and Barker slowly walked in, looking much less happy and groomed than usual. His fur was ruffled in places, and his generally clean outfit was an absolute mess. He knocked over a full garbage can with a swift and uncaring kick, then walked across the room, not saying anything and not looking at anyone. He sat down at one of the desks, then placed his hands on his face and let out an almost inaudible growling noise.

  
Orbot was the first to say anything. He stared up at the clock, then turned to Cubot, keeping his voice as quiet as he could. "According to Mister Barker yesterday, he was meant to go on a second date with that woman he mentioned; around this time if my memory banks are correct."  
Cubot nodded. "Ain't it a little early to be gettin' back though?"  
"Indeed it is," Orbot agreed. "He's had that expression many times before, but I've never seen it this severe..."  
  
Just then, Doctor Eggman walked into the room. He froze, surprised to see Barker there.  
"You're back early," he said.  
Seeing Barker's upset mood, he turned to Orbot and Cubot.  
"Leave us," he ordered.  
The two robots stiffened at his stern voice, then nodded.  
"Y-yes sir!"  
"Right away, boss!"  
They exited the room immediately, closing the door behind them.  
  
Barker pretended not to hear; he wasn't even sure why he bothered to come specifically to Eggman's place to mope. He could've easily gone somewhere else, but maybe it was because his best and only friend was here. _Ugh, why did I bother?_ he wondered, a little concern merging with his anger. _He's going to get on my case for being so upset about this..._

Eggman moved a nearby chair next to Barker, and sat down.  
"Alright, the Doctor is in," he said. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"  
He may have been an evil genius, but that didn't mean that he didn't care for his friend. Seeing him upset like this really bothered him.  
"I'm _fine_ ," Barker grumbled.  
 _Yeah, really convincing, Barker. You look like a wreck and knocked over a trash can for no reason. Clearly, you are the spitting image of happiness,_ he thought sarcastically. He didn't know why he bothered trying to hide it; even if it wasn't obvious, Eggman could read him like a book.  
"You don't seem fine to me," Eggman replied. "Come on Barker, what's eating you?"  
Barker sighed. "I'm just..." He paused, taking a deep breath, then carelessly hit a cup off the desk. Realizing he'd snapped a bit again, he placed a hand to his forehead.  
"Apologies. I just got stood up by my date today," he said. "I try to pick the ones with a little evil in them, you know? So they can respect my craft. But when I managed to find her after running out once I knew she wasn't going to show up, she rejected me on the spot; apparently her friends knew me and said I'd be a horrible boyfriend, especially for her." He looked away, trying to mask his anger; the last thing he wanted to do was lash out at Eggman.  


Eggman thought for a moment.  
"You've been having a lot of trouble with girls, haven't you? Maybe...maybe you should give guys a try?"  
 _Why did I even say that?!_ he thought immediately after the words came tumbling from his mouth. He tried his best to hide his embarrassment.  
Barker glanced over, giving Eggman a confused glance. It was a bit of a funny concept and it came so out of nowhere, so he managed a small smile. "Ah... I'm not sure there'd be a point any more..."  
His anger slowly returned as he thrust his hand up to the air in defeat. "Maybe my desiring for someone like that is too much to ask! Perhaps the world wants T.W. Barker to stay this way!"  
He let his hand fall back to the desk and sighed. It wasn't like him to talk that way, as he usually carried himself with so much confidence, but he'd just been rejected so many times...  
"I suppose it's time to throw in the towel," he muttered. "Even if I did attempt at getting a guy instead, who's to say that the same thing wouldn't occur? I'm a failure of a date to women, and the men would probably think the same." He wasn't sure if he believed what he said, but he couldn't help spilling it out; Eggman was so easy to talk to for him, so he'd just say whatever came to his mind.  
"You know what I think?" Eggman replied. "I think those people are fools for rejecting you! They don't even deserve to date you!"  
"You really believe that?" Barker asked, his brow raised and his hand resting on the desk. "There must be a lot of fools in the world then..." he said, slouching over on the desk slightly.  
"There are," Eggman said. "But you can't give up yet! I mean, what sort of evil genius would I be if I just gave up after being defeated by that blue rodent?"  
Barker appreciated Eggman's words, but he still wasn't sure. "So I just have bad luck and happened to date every fool I came across?" he asked. "It's time to face facts, 'doctor', I'm never going to get a proper date. Even if I managed to find someone, my reputation as a decent date's shattered anyway!" He turned to Eggman and held his hands out for emphasis. "Who would even give me a chance at this point, Eggman! Who!?"  
"I would."  
Eggman slapped a hand over his mouth, and his face turned red.  
 _D-did I really just say that?!?_  
  
There was a small silence, the anger on Barker's face slowly disappearing. Did Eggman really just say that? He was clearly embarrassed... could he have meant that he would give him a chance if he were another person?  
Barker was just stunned, conflicting emotions running through his head.  
"I... beg your... pardon?"  
"I...Um..." Eggman had no idea what to say. It seemed like a thousand confusing emotions were swirling through his head.  
  
Did he have... _feelings_ for Barker?  
  
Barker was just as confused. He never thought of Eggman as anything more than a best friend, but when he responded to his question like that, even though it was only for a second, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.  
 _Ah... probably shock._  
He gazed down at the table, not quite able to make eye contact with Eggman. Even though he tried to brush it off, the idea still nagged at him, making his heart pound. No, absolutely not. He was not in love with Eggman.  
...But then, why were his cheeks turning red?

Eggman stood up from his chair.  
"Forget I said anything," he quickly said, nervousness apparent in his tone. His heart felt like it was in his throat.  
He began to leave the room.

"Wait!"  
Barker leapt out his chair and quickly grabbed hold of Eggman's wrist. He didn't know what he was doing; he just felt like he'd regret it if he let him walk out like that.  
"...Did you mean that?" he asked, deadpanned and serious despite the redness of his face.  
"I-I..." Eggman was trembling slightly. He just couldn't lie to Barker...not when he was feeling so down like this. He took a deep breath.  
"Y-yes. I d-did."  
He hoped Barker wouldn't hate him for this.  
"A-ah. I see..." was all Barker could respond with. It was a more immediate respond of just him not wanting Eggman to stand there in silence, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt bad. Eggman deserved a better response than that.  
His heart was racing. So, Eggman liked him - loved him - so much more than he had thought.  
  
He was silent again, his gaze directed towards the floor, until he gripped Eggman's wrist with his other hand, pulling it closer to him.  
"...I'm sorry," he murmured softly. "I've been ignoring your emotions in favor of what I thought I needed." He sighed, almost getting angry with himself. "There you were, a perfectly good candidate, and I failed to notice you!"  
He took a moment to gather his thoughts together. He'd had many dates before, but he never actually felt anything for them. Now though, his answers seemed obvious; no one clicked for him because he was already smitten with somone.  
"I suppose it's best if I just apologize." He hesitated, then placed a light kiss on Eggman's gloved hand before releasing it, swiftly turning away and putting his hands behind his back. "It seems I've grown dumber with age and missed my chance. Certainly, I'm no longer worth your time." He said it so casually, but only because he felt deeply guilty and wanted to put on a brave face for Eggman; he guessed their friendship would end there.  


Eggman blushed, and grabbed one of Barker's hands.  
"You know, um...it's not too late to start over..." He paused. "Is it?"  
Barker turned his head, blushing as well. Eggman wasn't upset with him?  
"You mean that?" he asked, though he already knew the answer; Eggman's voice sounded too sincere.  
He smiled softly and bowed. "It would be my pleasure."  
Eggman smiled. "Y-you mean it?"  
In his excitement, he tackle-hugged Barker. "Thank you thank you thank you!"  
He'd never been this happy in all of his life. It was a dream come true!  
  
Barker yelped somewhat at the sudden hug, but that didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy it. "O-of course; it's all thanks to you after all!" he told him. "You said it first. I was just too blind to see it myself!"  
After a little while, Eggman finally let Barker go.  
"So...does this mean we're boyfriends now?"  
Barker tried to hide his blush this time. "...Y-yes, I suppose," he muttered, though a bit shyly. He cleared his throat to alleviate his nervousness.  
"Yay!" Eggman clapped his hands excitedly.  
Then he cleared his throat, trying to act more serious. "So, um...wanna go on a date or something?"  
Barker chuckled at Eggman's excitement, then nodded his head. "I would!"  
  
 _The end! ...or, rather, the beginning._


	14. The Problem With Sonic (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another Sonknux collab!
> 
> So, this is technically related to the AU that most of our other Sonknux stories take place in, but we don't consider it to actually be part of that timeline--so basically, it's an AU of an AU. (AU-ception???)
> 
> One thing that we loved about this is how it contains parallels to a certain other story...all I'm gonna say. ;) Oh, and there's a sequel to this, which will be right after this chapter, so I guess it's sort of a two-parter AU thing.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

It was a normal day for the five friends. Or, at least, compared to the more recent days, it was.

Roughly a week ago, Sonic had gotten into a huge accident. From the waist up, he was fine, but his legs were heavily damaged. He had recovered surprisingly fast, probably due to how durable and special his legs were, but when he tried to go on his usual Sonic run, he couldn't. It wasn't that he couldn't run, but he was barely faster than the rest of his friends. His speed had just... disappeared.

For a few days, he seemed to be completely positive about it, but any of his friends could see his underlying concern. His speed meant so much to him, and without the power in his legs, he couldn't jump nearly as high. At the very least, he had his spindash, but that wasn't saying much.

After those few days, his demeanor started to falter. Amy guessed that he was so certain that his legs just needed a little more time to fully heal, but after all those days of him feeling perfectly fine physically with nothing changing, he'd probably given up. He'd still crack an occasional joke now and then, but it usually seemed forced and he was quiet most of the time anyway.

Now, they were just sitting at the picnic table that Amy had kindly set up, eating a nice lunch. As usual, Sonic's mind seemed to be somewhere else and he didn't seem too hungry. It was a slightly awkward atmosphere that everyone had gotten used to; without Sonic's confident attitude and wisecracks, things felt out of balance. Even Sticks was pretty quiet, not wanting to say anything that might upset him.

After a few minutes, Sonic stood up and turned away, faking a smile. "Ah, think I'm gonna go lay down for a bit." He stretched, then steadily walked off. That was pretty usual at this point; he tended to go back to his house and sleep on his hammock.

"...You think he might just need more time?" Tails asked quietly.  
Amy shrugged, not really sure. "I don't know. I tried talking to him, but he won't open up to me."  
She looked over at Knuckles and frowned. "What about you, Knuckles? You two have been so inseparable lately. Did he ever say anything to you?"

The echidna probably had it worse out of the four, since he was Sonic's boyfriend, even though it was a secret. Sonic wouldn't talk to him at all; he wouldn't even sleep in the same bed anymore and had gone back to his hammock.

Knuckles shook his head. "No, he hasn't talked to me either. He used to talk to me all the time, but now..." He sighed sadly. "I'm really worried about him."  
"There must be something else going on for him to not talk to you," Amy figured, frowning. "You two seemed so close lately; maybe you should try again..."  
Knuckles thought for a moment. "Yeah, maybe I should try talking to him again."  
He honestly wasn't sure if he could get Sonic to talk this time. All previous attempts had failed; it was likely that this one would too.

Tails and Sticks nodded in agreement. They didn't know what happened to make the two so close, but they had a strong feeling that Knuckles was the only one with a fighting chance.

Meanwhile, Sonic was lying down on the hammock in his shack, his back facing the entrance. He hugged one of the pillows he'd taken from the bed; Knuckles'. It had his scent, so it was slightly comforting to him, as he'd preferred not to face the real deal. He felt awful that he didn't want to see his own boyfriend, but he couldn't help it.

He bent his legs slightly as he curled up, feeling the fabric of the black pants he was wearing brushing against his fur. He was known to have some sort of vendetta against wearing them, but changed his tune suddenly after the incident.

Knuckles nervously approached Sonic's hut. He walked up to the entrance and peeked in slightly.  
"Hi," he said softly. "Can...can I come in?"  
Sonic stiffened, not sure how to answer. He wanted to see Knuckes, he really did, and he sounded so sincere and worried, but...  
He decided not to respond and tried to pretend that he was already asleep. Deep down, he knew it wouldn't work; the two had slept together for so long that Knuckles probably knew how he relaxed and how he breathed when he was sleeping.  
Knuckles sighed, and walked into the hut. He saw Sonic curled up in his hammock, and he could tell how miserable the hedgehog was.  
"Hey," was all that he could think of to say.  
Sonic was quiet for a few more seconds, hoping to hear the Knuckles' fleeting footsteps, but no such sound came. He hugged the pillow tighter.  
"Hey."  
Knuckles grabbed a nearby chair and moved it closer to Sonic's hammock. He sat down, facing his upset boyfriend. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came to mind. What could he even say?  
Sonic hated the fact that his heart was beating so fast. He was being selfish by not talking, wasn't he? Keeping everything bottled up certainly wouldn't help, but he was too nervous about saying what was on his mind.  
"S-so, heh... what's up with you?" he asked as casually as he could, unable to stand the silence.  
"I'm worried about you," Knuckles replied. "Come on, you were able to talk to me before. Why...why are you shutting me out?"  
He sighed. "Sonic...please. I just want to help."  
Sonic didn't know why he bothered to hope in keeping a normal conversation. He hesitated, then rolled over to his other side to face Knuckles. "I'm alright, Knux. Just... tired, I guess." It was an obvious lie, but he didn't have the guts to be honest.  
"Sonic, I know you're lying," Knuckles replied sternly, but gently. "You haven't been yourself lately. Please, talk to me. What's going on?"  
His eyes showed nothing but love and concern for his boyfriend.  
Sonic took a while to respond, clutching the pillow tighter. "I..."  
He gazed up at Knuckles, letting out a weak chuckle. "Y-y'know, I saw a girl a few days ago; said she was a big fan of yours."  
To Knuckles, it probably seemed like a random topic, but not to Sonic.  
Knuckles sighed. As flattered as he was, he was slightly annoyed at Sonic trying to change the subject.  
"Sonic..."  
"You shoulda seen her; her face went all red when I told her I knew ya. Maybe you should meet her sometime," he suggested.

The bit of confidence left in his head told him to keep his mouth shut or change the topic, but he couldn't stop. Since he lost his speed, he felt like a part of him left too. What use did he have for his team any more; just his spindash? If they didn't replace him right away, he'd probably start being left behind. At least, nightmares he'd been having nearly had him convinced on the fact. If it was true, then it was just a matter of time until Knuckles broke up with him as well...

He tried not to keep eye contact with Knuckles; he'd gotten pretty good at 'reading' Sonic's eyes, and he didn't want him to figure it out.  
"Sonic...please." Knuckles hated seeing him so distressed. "Why won't you talk to me?" He choked back the tears that threatened to come on. "I just want to help you."  
"I...I know," Sonic murmured. "B-but there's just..."  
His hands were shaking. He didn't know what to do. Knuckles seemed so insistent and kind. What was he supposed to say? He felt useless for the first time in his life; completely and utterly useless. His emotions were building up, and he started to worry that he'd—  
 _...No, Sonic. Don't you dare start!_  
He felt his eyes get hot, and he swiftly turned away from Knuckles as tears started forming. He clenched his teeth, trying not to sob and let his emotions through.  
"T-there's just nothing to tell you..."  
"Sonic."  
Knuckles stood up and went over to Sonic's hammock. He placed a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder.  
"If there's one thing I know," he said, "it's that stuffing your feelings down makes you feel worse."  
He paused for a moment. "Sonic, I'm your boyfriend. You can talk to me about anything."  
Sonic flinched as the large hand was played on his shoulder. Usually, Knuckles' size compared to him made him feel all fuzzy inside, but now it just made him feel small.

He lifted his hand slightly, then reached back and lightly gripped a section of Knuckles' fur. His head turned to the echidna, having probably the saddest look Sonic'd ever give him. His eyes were watering, threatening to spill over with tears. He didn't know why he couldn't force the tears away. He made a rule once that no one could see him cry, and that he'd try to never show his emotions like that.

Maybe that rule left with his speed.

"...It isn't fair, Knux..." he said softly, a single tear rolling down his cheek.  
"I know..."  
Knuckles wrapped his arms around Sonic in a light hug.  
"But you don't have to face it alone."

That did it.

Almost instantly, a sob escaped Sonic's throat and he started crying into the echidna's chest. His face was red from embarrassment, but he couldn't stop.  
Knuckles held Sonic a little more tightly, trying his best to comfort the hedgehog.  
"There there..."  
It seemed like only recently had their roles been switched, Knuckles being the one crying in Sonic's arms. Now, it was the echidna's turn to comfort his boyfriend.

Sonic sniffled and hicced for a good while longer. It was nice to be comforted, but that didn't alleviate his fears. He could feel Knuckles' warmth radiating off his body, and if they really did break up or he really was replaced...

Well, he didn't want to make Knuckles do anything he didn't want to.

"K-Knuckles..."  
He shook, struggling to calm himself down, then took a deep breath and looked up at his boyfriend's face, making eye contact in hopes of getting his message across. He was nervous though, as he was sure he looked pretty dumb with all the crying he'd done.  
"It...it's over, isn't it?"  
Knuckles was confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"  
Sonic looked back down, his ears drooping. He couldn't tell if Knuckles was truly clueless or was playing dumb.  
"...Y-y'know... my p-place as a team m-member and stuff..."  
He sighed sadly, glancing down further and gripping his right pant leg. He pulled on it slightly to show some of his leg, revealing a multitude of scars that his fur hadn't grown back to cover.  
"I'd g-get in the way..."  
"What are you talking about?" Knuckles asked, shocked. "We're Team Sonic! We'd fall apart without you!"  
He lifted Sonic's head to look him in the eyes.  
"And I'd be nobody if it weren't for you."  
Sonic stared back at Knuckles, surprised and blushing. "B-but... speed was my whole thing! Even if I could get used to fightin' without it, I'll never be as great as I used to be..."  
Knuckles thought for a bit.  
"Even if that is true," he said, "you're still our leader, Sonic. And our friend. Speed or no speed, we need you. I need you."  
Knuckles lightly kissed Sonic on the head. "I love you, Sonic. Nothing will ever change that."  
"R-really?" Sonic asked, his muzzle turning a deeper shade of red. He looked away sheepishly, almost feeling stupid. "I was so sure you'd wanna break up with me..."  
"Why would I want to do that?" Knuckles was clearly very shocked by this.  
Sonic looked up at him in confusion, as if the answer was obvious. "Well... my speed was just such a huge part of me. I figured that... since it was gone..." He shrugged. "I was half the guy I was before..."  
Knuckles couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But...your speed isn't why we all love you! We...I...love you for, well...you."  
Sonic went quiet at that, his blush worsening as he shyly scratched the back of his head. After a moment though, he smiled softly and wrapped his arms around Knuckles in a gentle hug.  
"...Thanks, Knux. I love ya too..."  
Knuckles smiled, glad that he'd been able to help his boyfriend. He kissed him again, wanting to make sure that Sonic knew just how loved he was.  
Sonic chuckled at the kiss, Knuckles' message certainly getting across. "Heh, careful. The others are gonna freak out if I'm all red in the face when we head back out," he told him.  
It felt like forever since he'd smiled like that.

They remained in each other's embrace for quite some time. Then Knuckles spoke again.  
"So...wanna go hang out with the others? They've been really worried about you." Knuckles hugged Sonic a little tighter. "We all were."  
Sonic's smile widened slightly as he nodded. Though, he didn't exactly want to leave Knuckles' grasp just yet, since the two hadn't had much physical contact as of late, so he chuckled and draped his body over the echidna's shoulder like a limp towel.  
"I don't feeeel like walkin' though. Carry me!" he said. "Don't worry, I'll make it look cool."  
Knuckles giggled. "Sure thing, Sonic!"

He stood up, supporting Sonic's body with his hands so he wouldn't fall, and began walking out of the hut.  
Sonic giggled with him, giving him a light kiss on the cheek before relaxing.

It was good to be back.  



	15. Speed Training (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, more Sonknux stuff from me and sonic-nyoom! This is a sequel to "The Problem With Sonic", and won't make sense unless you read that story first. This is also the conclusion to the AU-ception we had going on. xD
> 
> Enjoy!

Sonic punched the air in front of him, then rolled forward and delivered a swift kick, testing his agility. Since he'd lost his speed all that time ago, he'd been training with Knuckles in order to hone other aspects of himself, like his strength and flexibility (probably his kissing too, but neither of the two would dare mention that when they got back to their friends). So far, it seemed to go well, so the two decided that today would be the day they'd spar together.

"You really think I can take you on?" Sonic asked, looking up to Knuckles with a bit of uncertainty in his tone.  
"Sure you can!" Knuckles replied with a grin. "You're doing great! And besides, it's okay if you don't get it the first time."  
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

He lightly tugged on the cuff of his glove, then pointed to a different section of the area. "Mind if I go train on my own for a bit, just to get ready?" he asked.  
"Sure, go ahead! I'll be over here if you need me." Knuckles then reached behind him, pulling a pair of headphones out of thin air.  
Sonic nodded and ran off to the other area; just far enough so that Knuckles wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.

He practiced his kicks, punching, and anything else he could think of. Like with every training session, he'd leave his pants at home, despite the scars still on his legs. He generally wore them to hide his legs from the public eye, but he saw no reason to hide them when he was alone with his boyfriend , who he knew loved him regardless of anything. Besides that, the pants felt like extra weight he didn't need.

As he kept honing his skills, he suddenly felt the ground shaking and looked around. It wasn't a huge earthquake, but it was still an earthquake nonetheless. The rocky valley they were in was known for having them often, and they figured it'd be a great randomness factor for their little fight.  
Knuckles, meanwhile, was jamming to some music on his headphones. He felt the earthquake, but didn't think much of it.  
What he failed to notice was that a large boulder was being shaken loose--right above where he was standing!

Sonic was about to resume his training when he sensed that something was wrong. Turning around, he saw the boulder steadily shaking and rumbling. Needless to say, he began to panic.  
"K-KNUCKLES!" he called out, but there was no reaction; the music in his headphones was probably too loud.  
He didn't have time; something in his head taunted him that he wouldn't make it in time. He wouldn't be fast enough, and he'd have to watch Knuckles get killed.  
 _...Not on my watch._  
Sonic hardly even thought about it; he had precious seconds and the only thing on his mind was saving his boyfriend. He readied himself, then took off.

And suddenly, a resounding boom echoed throughout the valley. It was a sound that no one had heard in what felt like forever: a sonic boom.

In milliseconds, a familiar blur of blue rushed at Knuckles and tackled him to the ground, the two tumbling for a while before stopping. The boulder slammed down behind them, crushing layers of ground underneath it.  
"Oof!" Knuckles' headphones fell off and landed beside him as he tumbled. Everything had happened so quickly that he wasn't even sure what had just happened--but he could've sworn...no, it had to be his imagination.

"You okay?" he asked Sonic. "Wha-what just happened?"  
Sonic was nearly panting. He pushed himself into a sitting position, then looked back at the boulder that had fallen. "I-I was... and the earthquake... you were about to... so I..."  
He didn't bother finishing, opting to wrap his arms around Knuckles and hug him tight. Tears nearly came to his eyes, as he was so unbelievably happy.

Knuckles hugged him back.  
"Thanks for saving me! I'd be toast if you didn't notice that boulder!"  
Then something occurred to him.  
"How did you get to me so fast, though?"  
Sonic pulled away, the question bothering him as well. "I-I dunno. I just knew I had to save you and started running..."  
He then looked down, noticing that the scars on his legs were gone; or at least, he assumed they were since fur had grown over them.  
 _...I wonder..._  
He didn't want to face possible disappointment, but curiosity won over. He took a few steps back, then took off, speeding across the entire valley in mere seconds before going straight back to Knuckles, the same blue trail of light following after him to emphasize his incredible speed.  
"It...it's back..." he said, staring down at himself in wonder. There was a short pause, after which his face lit up in excitement.  
 _"It's back!"_  
Without warning, he rushed closer to Knuckles and lifted him up as best as he could, then took off like a lightning bolt, running in a random direction and picking up even more speed from there. He was absolutely ecstatic.

Knuckles was really dazed and confused at first. When he was finally able to process what was going on, his heart leaped for joy. Sonic's speed was back!

Everything around Knuckles was a blur, except for the hedgehog who was currently holding him up in the air. He clung onto Sonic for dear life, then smiled widely. Seeing Sonic so happy, so full of life once again...it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.  
Sonic grinned wide, the adrenaline rush from long ago coming back to him. He blushed lightly as Knuckles clung to him, but it made the run even better to him.

He then stopped as he reached his shack, setting Knuckles down and smiling up at him. He literally had no words to express how happy he was, so he just hugged Knuckles tight, laughing like a child; an adorable, wonderful child.  
Knuckles picked him up and twirled him around. He too was at a loss for words. He had no idea how this had even happened, but he figured that it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Sonic was finally himself again. The accident that had cost him his speed had damaged him in more ways than one. Knuckles silently thanked whatever had caused this miracle for making his beloved smile and laugh again--for real, no more traces of sadness in his eyes.  
"Yes! This is the best!" Sonic exclaimed, zipping about in short bursts. "Aw, there's so many places I'd like to revisit, and--!"

He paused, the rush dying down as all of his previous thoughts caught up with him. He calmed him with a deep breath, then walked back over to Knuckles.  
"On second thought, I think I'm gonna stick around here for a bit longer." He gently grabbed Knuckles' hand and gave him a soft smile. "I'd rather hang out with someone who's _way_ more important than my speed."  
Knuckles blushed.  
"Aw, sh-shucks..." he stammered. "A-am I really more important than your speed?"  
Sonic giggled; it always amused him when Knuckles got embarrassed.  
"A'course you are! That's why I said it; wanted to make sure ya knew!"

He released Knuckles' hand and sped a few circles around him, then stood back in his original position.  
"We're boyfriends after all, right?" He winked and held out his pinkie finger for a 'Pinkie Swear'. "For forever if you'd like~"  
Knuckles wrapped his pinkie around Sonic's, smiling.  
"I'd like that."


	16. Black and White (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another Sonknux collab! xD

Sonic sped into the village and looked around for the food store. He was running low on his supply of chili, so he figured it'd be best to pick some up as soon as possible.

However, something made him stop.

Being as fast as he was, Sonic had extremely focused eyes and was able to notice things much faster than anyone else could, even when going at his top speed. The newsstand had caught his attention, or more specifically, the newspapers sitting on the counter of the newsstand. He was sure he'd seen his name on it. Were they doing a cover story about one of his fights with Eggman? That didn't seem like big news...

Curious, he walked up and lifted the top newspaper off, gazing at the main article. Instantly, his eyes widened, his heart almost stopping. The person at the newsstand had been giving him a weird look since he stopped there, and now he understood why. Completely forgetting about what he came for, he sped off and arrived back at his shack in just a few seconds, walking inside and looking over to Knuckles.

"H-hey, Knux!" He tried to be casual when he greeted him, but he was in too much of a panic. "A-ahm... you should probably see this..."  
Knuckles walked up to him. "What's up?" he asked. He noticed that Sonic seemed worried about something. "Hey, is something wrong?"  
Sonic hesitated to answer, then simply pointed at the newspaper in his hand and started reading.

_"Villagers around town were talking constantly about the sudden improvement in Sonic and Knuckles' relationship. To be honest, I actually hadn't noticed myself until I took a better look. It was true; they spent a lot more time together than they had previously, and while I saw the two spending time with the other five on occasion, the two were together with just each other much more frequently. I felt like there could be a story here, so I chose to investigate. I gathered up my camera and notepad, then set out to work._

_"At first, it didn't seem like anything special. The two acted like close friends and nothing more. I didn't understand where the sudden spike had come from though, and the look they gave each other from time to time only rose my suspicions._

_"Soon enough though, I got my wish. I had followed them in secret back to Sonic the Hedgehog's shack. The first thing I noticed was an extra bed in the house. From previous research I've read, Sonic slept on his hammock and nothing more, so why was there an extra bed there? At first, knowing that Knuckles the Echidna had no home, I thought that perhaps it was for shelter if it rained; he'd stay at Sonic's house if he had to. It seemed logical._

_"But then I saw it. I took a picture without hesitation._

_"Sonic was sitting comfortably on Knuckles' lap while Knuckles himself had his arms wrapped around the hedgehog. As someone who had done many romance shockers in the past, I'd seen these positions before. I also managed to catch Knuckles placing a kiss on Sonic's head, but I unfortunately wasn't able to take a picture."_

_"There's definitely more to this relationship than any of us inspected it, and I'm quite intrigued."_

Sonic took a breath, then flipped the newspaper around so Knuckles could see the picture on the cover. He wasn't sure how to respond. It was the cover story, supposedly the most important story on the paper! Would anyone notice? Would they care? More importantly, what would Knuckles respond with? Sonic frowned, watching his boyfriend's face closely and with slight paranoia.

Knuckles' eyes were wide. "Has...has everybody seen this?" he asked nervously. He wasn't sure if he was ready to be "outed" like this yet. But it seemed like their secret wasn't really a secret anymore.  
Sonic shrugged. "I-I dunno. I just saw the cover page and booked it back here..."  
He sighed, sitting down on the floor and staring at the newspaper with mixed feelings. "...Guess we never really talked about it, huh?"  
"About going public?" Knuckles sat down next to Sonic. "No, I guess we never did."  
There was a long silence between the two.

"So...what should we do?" Knuckles finally asked.  
Sonic tossed the newspaper to the floor. "Not sure. This is way too sudden for me, y'know?" he asked, crossing his arms.  
Admittedly, the two never even agreed on keeping quiet about it; it just sorta happened and they both accepted it since they seemed to be on the same page.  
"I just... didn't want anyone to freak out. I mean, me dating is already one thing. Dating a guy - dating you - is a whole 'nother story." He sighed, wishing it wasn't so complicated.  
Knuckles nodded. "Yeah.."  
He sighed. "What are people going to think of us?" He gulped nervously. "What will our friends think?"  
Sonic's ears twitched. "Geez, I-I didn't even think of that." Common sense told him that if they were really his friends, they wouldn't care, but they had been keeping this a secret for a long time. At least one of them was bound to be insulted, right?  
"I mean... should we tell 'em first if they haven't read it yet? Er, no, maybe wait until tomorrow, or... no..." He put a hand to his head, completely unsure of what to do. He felt like he should've expected this, but apparently he was so lost in his own little world with Knuckles that he hadn't even thought of the possibility.  
Knuckles thought for a while.  
"I'm not ready, and you're not ready," he said carefully. "And I don't think we'll be ready tomorrow either. But maybe we'll be...ready-er, I guess? Is that even a word?" He had no idea if he was even making sense. He was just as lost as Sonic.  
Sonic chuckled. "No, it's not, but I get what cha mean."  
His eyes shifted from side to side, then he smirked and stood up, walking over to Knuckles. "Aaaaand since we already got caught once..."  
He plopped down onto Knuckles' lap, leaning against him. "It's not like it'd be a big deal if we do it again~"  
Knuckles grinned. "Fair enough."  
He kissed Sonic on the head.

The next day, Sonic came back to his shack after picking up another newspaper. He hadn't bothered to see if people reacted to him; he just grabbed the paper and ran.  
"Uh... we made the cover again," he told Knuckles, trying to joke around and smile.  
"What are they saying now?" Knuckles asked. He was nervous, but he needed to know.  
Sonic didn't know; he just saw that it was another article on them and brought it home. "Well..."  
He looked down and started to read.

_"As a follow-up to yesterday's article, I offered the cover to the people around town and asked their opinions on the matter of Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna dating. Here were some of their thoughts.”_

_"I don't really know how I feel about it. I was shocked, obviously, and I'm not quite sure it's sunk in yet."_

_"Oh, I knew it from the beginning! It was way too obvious! Those two were meant to be!"_

Sonic blushed as he read that one, but tried to keep his composure.

_"Seems too shady to me. They probably knew they were being followed and put on an act for attention; that Sonic's got such a big ego, after all. It's just like him to pull a stunt like this."_

He grimaced.

_"I don't have an opinion. It's just like if any other two guys got together. What's the big deal?"_

_"Personally, I think Sonic's making a bad decision. Knuckles is way too--"_

Sonic stopped reading the quote, glaring at the remaining text; Knuckles definitely didn't need to hear that. He skipped it and continued on.

_"It sounded a little strange at first, I'll admit, but once I really thought about it, they look pretty cute and happy together. What's not to admire?"_

_"I was just confused. I mean, it's fine with me, don't get me wrong, but I thought they were already in relationships with the two girls on their team."_

_"This is the last thing I wanted in a hero. I don't want my kids thinking that this stuff is okay, are you kidding me?"_

Sonic looked further on the page for anything else, but that was the end of the article. Did that have to be the last quote?  
"It sounds like everyone reacted differently," Knuckles mused. "I'm kinda scared about the negative people, though...what will they do if they see us together?" He knew that some people didn't take kindly to guys dating other guys.  
"Well, if they make fun or hate us, I'll just have to introduce 'em to my spindash!" Sonic replied. Deep down, he knew he wasn't likely to do that, but what else were they supposed to do? It was right there in black and white for everyone to see: "Sonic the Hedgehog dating Knuckles the Echidna". How were they meant to approach this?

"...Either way, it's pretty much out there in the open for everyone to see," Sonic told him, putting a hand to his face. "We could deny it, but that'd probably just make things worse and it wouldn't feel right..."  
Knuckles put an arm around him and squeezed his shoulder. "Well, I guess we can't really hide it anymore." He smiled softly. "We'll just have to face this like everything else: together."  
Sonic smiled back, feeling a bit more reassured. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, even if some people hate the idea, I mean... whatever, y'know?" He shrugged. "Not like we can do anything about it. We're dating 'cause we just like each other that much; facts are facts."  
Knuckles grinned. "You're right! And since it's not a secret anymore..."  
He stood up and held out his hand.  
"Sonic, will you go on a date with me?" he asked in his best "romantic voice".  
Sonic chuckled and simultaneously blushed at Knuckles' attempt at romantic voice. "Sure! I was gonna ask you the same thing anyway!"

He grabbed Knuckles' hand and stood up too, then intertwined their fingers and walked out of the shack with him. It felt so weird, holding hands while they weren't inside Sonic's shack; the house had always been a safe zone of sorts, so this was somewhat out of their comfort zone.

Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand. He was really nervous. Heck, he felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. But he knew that with Sonic, he could face anything.  
"So...where would you like to go?" he asked his boyfriend.  
It wasn't hard for Sonic to sense that Knuckles was nervous. His heart was beating too, but he was the stronger one in the relationship, at least emotionally, so he was certain that if he acted fine, Knuckles would follow suit.  
"I-I dunno. Don't dates usually go out to fancy restaurants and stuff?" he asked. "I mean, we don't have to go somewhere super fancy, but Meh Burger wouldn't really be my idea of a date. 'Sides, that's our usual hang-out spot. If people know we're a thing, might as well flaunt it, right?"  
"Yeah, that's true," Knuckles replied. "Wherever you want to go is cool with me."  
Truthfully, he didn't really care where they went. He just wanted to spend some quality time with his favorite hedgehog.

The two eventually got to the main part of the village where all the shops and such were. Sonic felt his nerves get worse, but still managed to keep his cool by trying not to make eye contact with anyone; even thought he was holding Knuckles' hand, he wasn't quite ready to say that they'd been dating.

"You don't see any of our friends, do ya?" Sonic asked warily. He still had to prepare for what he'd tell them...  
Knuckles glanced around. "Hmmm...don't see any of them yet."  
Part of him was glad, since he had no idea what to say or do if they were confronted about their relationship. What would their friends say? How would they react to the news? The last thing he wanted was for one of his few friendships to be destroyed, but he knew deep down that he'd choose Sonic over them if he had to. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.  
"...Hey." Sonic gripped Knuckles' hand tighter. "It's alright."  
Soon they arrived at the restaurant. They ignored the weird looks that some people gave them, and got themselves seated at a table.  
"Oooh, you picked a good place!" Knuckles said.  
"Naturally!" Sonic said with a big grin. In reality, he'd never been here before and just guessed on a place to go to. To accommodate for Knuckles' size and just generally because they were more blocked off from all sides, they'd gotten a circular booth; they didn't mind being seen so much, but they'd prefer to start off small.

Soon enough, a waitress came by, looking quite cheerful as she saw the two.  
"Hello! I'll be your server today," she told them. "Can I get you any drinks?"  
"Uh, soda, I guess?" Sonic suggested. "Doesn't matter what. Surprise me."  
"I'll have whatever he's having," Knuckles said. He was trying his best to hide his nervousness.  
The waitress nodded, placing two menus at their table before walking away.  
Sonic looked over to Knuckles. "Don't worry, okay? There were positive people in the paper too; not everyone's gonna think badly of us."  
He reached his hand across the table for Knuckles to grab and gave him a reassuring smile.  
Knuckles smiled back. If Sonic was confident, he would be too.

He picked up one of the menus and started to skim through it.  
"Oh wait, I can't read..."  
Sonic chuckled, then slid around the booth so he was sitting next to Knuckles. "Don't worry. I'll help ya."  
He gazed over the menu. "Any of the pictures catch your eye?"  
"Hmmm..." Knuckles looked at the pictures of the various entrees. "Oooh, that looks good!" He pointed to one of the pictures.  
"Alright! I'll order it for ya~" Sonic told him, reading the name next to the picture.

The waitress came back after a few minutes, and Sonic filled her in on what they wanted to order. However, before she left, she slowly reached into her apron and pulled out an object.  
Sonic blinked. "What's that for?"  
She just smiled, placing it on a little stand in the center of the table and lighting it; a candle. She said nothing, only giggling a bit before leaving.  
Sonic blushed, getting the message, averting his gaze from Knuckles and letting out a nervous grunt.  
Knuckles stared at the candle. "What's that for?" he asked.  
"U-uh..." Sonic sheepishly scratched his cheek. "It's for when people go out on a date. Helps 'set the mood', or somethin'," he explained.  
"Ohhh," Knuckles replied thoughtfully. He smiled, putting an arm around Sonic.  
Sonic giggled a bit shyly, though he felt more loved than embarrassed, so he didn't mind.

A while later, he suddenly felt something lightly touching his leg and looked over to Knuckles. "Is that you?"  
Curious, he peeked under the table, and a young girl crawled out onto the sea, holding out a pencil and paper to him. "C-can I have your aut-y-graph, please?"  
"Oh! Sure!" Sonic exclaimed, grabbing the object from her and scribbling down his signature. He hadn't expected today of all days to be asked for an autograph, but he didn't mind one bit.  
"Here ya go!"  
The girl took the paper and pencil back, then held them out to Knuckles. "Y-yours too, mister Knuckie?"  
Sonic smirked, glancing over at Knuckles. "Well, looks like we've got a little fan."  
Knuckles blushed, flattered. He was nervous, however, because he couldn't write. He glanced over at Sonic, silently asking him what to do.  
Sonic debated on what Knuckles could do, then took the paper and pencil back and handed it to him. "Why don't you give it a shot?" he asked. He took a napkin and wrote down Knuckles' name, then showed it to him so he could imitate it.  
Knuckles took the pencil. He studied the writing on the napkin closely, then proceeded to copy it onto the paper. It looked rather sloppy, but not bad for a first try.  
"I...I did it!" He was so excited, he could hardly believe it.  
Sonic giggled at his excitement, then put the napkin down and handed the girl her things back. "How's that?"  
She lit up, looking extremely happy. "Great! Thanks!" She leapt up and gave Knuckles a small hug, then stared at them. "Don't tell Mommy I was here, okay?"  
Sonic could take a good guess as to why. "We won't."  
The little girl smiled at them, then ran off.

"We have a little fan!" Knuckles grinned. "And I wrote my first word!"  
Perhaps this day would turn out alright after all.  
Sonic playfully patted Knuckles' shoulder. "I'm so proud of you~" He was mostly being playful, but there was a bit of seriousness too.  
"I'm proud of me too!" Knuckles replied happily.  
His stomach growled. "I can't wait for the food to get here. I'm so hungry, I could eat this whole table!"  
"Yeah, I'm starving too," Sonic agreed, returning to his original spot on the table.

After a few minutes, the waitress came back with their food, and the two gave her a quick thanks before she left. "It's no chili dog, but it'll do," Sonic said, taking a small bite.  
Knuckles tried a bite of his food. "Mmmm...this is good! How's yours?"  
"Pretty good, I guess," Sonic replied. It was great, but is wasn't bad either.

He glanced back to where the young girl from earlier was sitting, then crossed one leg over the other. "I was surprised when that girl came up to us; she was so excited."  
"She was." Knuckles smiled. "It was really cute!"  
Sonic nodded in agreement. "Yeah!"  
He paused, his face turning to that of nervousness. He stabbed lightly at his food, then shyly shifted his gaze towards Knuckles. "You want one...?"  
Knuckles giggled. "Sure!"  
"Really?" Sonic asked, now a bit curious. "I guess I should've expected that answer from ya." He chuckled. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he wanted the same. They'd have to adopt obviously, but would he be able to handle a kid?  
"Yeah, someday," Knuckles replied between bites of food. He did want to adopt a child--after all, he himself was an orphan. But he also knew that the two of them might not be ready for that sort of thing for quite a while. And that was okay. He could wait.  
"H-heh, I dunno about me though," Sonic said sheepishly. "Y'think I'd make a good dad?"  
"Are you kidding?" Knuckles replied. "Of course you would!"  
Sonic smirked at his positivity. "Oh yeah? Well, I guess he'd never be late for anything~" he joked. "I'd make sure of it!”  
"Wha--ohhh." Knuckles laughed. "Or she," he pointed out.  
"Oh, can you imagine?" Sonic asked with a laugh. "Would she be more like Sticks or Amy? You think my bandana'd be fashionable enough for her?" He tugged on his bandana and stuck his tongue out playfully.  
Knuckles laughed too. "Well, he or she, they would be loved very much," he said with a smile.  
"Yeah, obviously," Sonic agreed.

The waitress eventually came back once the two were done eating, taking their dishes away, though Sonic whispered something into her ear right before she left, smirking a bit to himself.  
She returned with their check and a small to-go box. Thanking her, Sonic paid for their meal and slid the box across the table for Knuckles. "That's for you on the way home," he told him.  
"Oooh! What is it?" Knuckles was delightfully surprised.  
"I saw that one of their desserts was a grape tart, so I got it for ya," Sonic replied, reaching over and opening the box.  
Knuckles gasped in delight. "You know me so well!"  
"Well, I should! I'm your boyfriend, aren't I?" Sonic told him, giggling. He didn't care if anyone heard him; he was more focused on how happy Knuckles was.  
"The best boyfriend ever!" Knuckles replied, suddenly throwing his arms around Sonic.  
"H-hey!" Sonic laughed. "Don't leave yourself outta that ruling, Knux!"  
He hugged Knuckles back, then grabbed the box and handed it to him as they walked out of the restaurant. "Try it! Hopefully ya like it~"  
Knuckles tried a bite. "It's great!" he exclaimed. He continued to eat it, making little "om-nom" sounds as he did.  
Figuring that Knuckles was in a much better mood now, Sonic glanced up at him. "Y'know, they'll probably be waiting for us back at the shack since we didn't talk to 'em for the past two days. Any ideas on what we should say?" he asked.  
Knuckles swallowed his mouthful of dessert. "No. I have no idea what we're gonna tell them..." Truth be told, he was terrified of what their friends would say.  
"Well... no matter what happens, it'll work out, okay?" Sonic assured, placing a hand on Knuckles' arm.  
"Okay," Knuckles replied. Sonic's touch helped calm his nerves somewhat. "I trust you."

As Sonic predicted, their three friends were outside his shack when they go there; Amy was even holding the newspaper.  
"Right on schedule," Sonic mumbled under his breath, joking with himself to calm his nerves. "Yo, guys!"  
Tails looked over and waved. "Hey."  
Amy stood up from her place on the sand, then held up the newspaper. "Hey, so... I guess you've seen this?"  
Sonic stiffened at the sight, but held Knuckles' hand. "...Yeah, we have."  
"H-hey, guys!" Knuckles greeted, forcing a grin. His heart was in his throat, and he thought he might break into a sweat at any moment. Any sort of confidence he'd felt before arriving at the shack had now vanished.  
Sticks wasted no time, walking up to the two and punching Sonic in the arm.  
"O-ow, hey!" Sonic yelped.  
"Why didn't cha tell us!" the badger asked.  
"Sticks, calm down," Amy said. "Let them speak for themselves."  
Sonic sighed. "...it's true."  
Knuckles was too anxious to speak, so he just nodded. He squeezed Sonic's hand, bracing himself for whatever their friends were about to say.  
"Look... it's not like we didn't t want to tell you guys," Sonic told them. "It was more like somethin' we did but just didn't think about, y'know? I mean, yeah, we were a little worried about how you guys would react, but..." He simply shrugged, not sure what else to say.  
Amy frowned. "Well, I certainly don't mind. I was a little surprised, but you two can date whoever you want."  
Sticks crossed her arms. "Juuuust tell us next time when it's something important like this, okay?" The two could only imagine how paranoid they'd made her.  
Sonic's heart calmed down as he gave a small smile. "Y-yeah, sure!" He paused, then looked over at Tails. "And... you, Tails?"  
The fox stared at him, almost as if building up dramatic effect, then laughed. "Oh, me? I knew all along! I was just waiting for you to tell me!"  
"Wha--you _knew_?" Knuckles said in surprise.  
He was also very relieved that his friends seemed okay with his and Sonic's relationship, and his nerves started to cool down.  
Sonic was just as shocked. "Seriously?"  
Tails nodded. "C'mon, Sonic. We've been friends for _how_ long? You really thought I wouldn't notice?"  
Sonic blushed red. He had a good point...  
"So...are we all cool, then?" Knuckles asked. He just wanted to make sure he could completely relax now.  
Amy nodded. "Of course!"  
Sticks seemed a bit sour still, but gave them a smile anyway. "Yup."  
Sonic didn't need to hear Tails' response; he knew the fox well enough already. He giggled, turning to Knuckles and holding his hand tighter. "What'd I tell ya? I said that things were gonna work out, and they did!"  
Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.  
"I'm so glad you guys are okay with this!" he said. "I was scared about what you would all think..." he admitted.  
"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't accept you?" Amy asked. "Pretty bad ones, I'd say."  
Sonic chuckled. "Y'can't exactly blame us though. It is a pretty big deal."  
"Yeah, I guess. As long as you keep your promise and not try to hide stuff from us again!" she told him.  
"We won't, we won't," he assured, waving a hand dismissively. He then stared over at his shack. "Sooo..."  
"Oh, we just came to talk to you about what was going on," Amy explained. "We're actually gonna go hang out at my house right now." She giggled. "Don't worry. We'll leave you two lovebirds alone~"

Sonic's blush worsened as the three walked off. "L-lovebirds...?" he mumbled under his breath. _Ahh, she's probably gonna make me blush every chance she gets..._  
"Well, that went well!" Knuckles said happily. "So, um...what should we do now?"  
Sonic shrugged, heading inside his shack. "We could play some games together if ya want?" He tried not to smile so much, but it was difficult.  
Knuckles grinned. "Bet you can't beat me!"  
"Oh, beat me big time once and now you're all cocky?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "I was sick then; dunno if you remember~"  
"Yeah, whatever!" Knuckles replied, waving a hand. "I can still beat you!"  
Sonic giggled playfully. "If you say so~"  
He sat down in front of the game console, then started it up and tossed Knuckles a controller. "Catch!"  
Knuckles nearly dropped the controller, but managed to catch it.  
"Let's do this!"  
"Alright! You're so on!"

The two sat next to each other, and the game started. At first, it was a close tie, but Sonic had a plan, mostly to get back at Knuckles for 'daring to be so confident about beating him'.  
As the two continued to fight, he kept one eye on the screen and swiftly kissed Knuckles' cheek, hoping to distract him a bit.  
"Gah!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise. Before he knew it, he'd lost the game.  
"H-hey, that's cheating!" He sounded angry, but he was also blushing.  
"Tough!" Sonic grinned. "You were askin' for it~"  
Knuckles pouted. "I'm gonna get you back for that!"  
"Oh yeah?" Sonic leaned close, his face inches away from Knuckles. "Wha'cha gonna do?"  
"Oh, you'll see!" Knuckles replied with a sly grin.  
Seeing his grin, Sonic was suddenly nervous. "E-eheh, yeah?" He tried to keep up his smug expression, but failed horribly.  
"Yeah." Knuckles grinned wider when he saw Sonic's nervousness. "Let's start another game, shall we?"  
Despite his cautiousness, Sonic didn't want to feel like a quitter, so he reluctantly nodded and sat back down, holding his controller tight. "Bring it!"

As they played, they were beginning to tie once again. But before Sonic could beat him again, Knuckles suddenly rushed towards Sonic and kissed him. Not on the cheek, but on the lips.  
"Mm!!"  
Sonic, startled by the sudden motion, dropped his controller, his character in the game left completely defenseless.  
Knuckles tried to focus on the game. He was so close to winning...but he became so into the kiss that he too soon dropped his controller.  
Sonic would've smirked if it weren't for the kiss. He'd let Knuckles off easy this time since he didn't actually win. Giggling, he wrapped his arms around the echidna and kissed him back.  
Knuckles returned the embrace, sighing contentedly. He'd completely forgotten about the game.

Sonic pulled away slowly after a few seconds, smiling at his boyfriend. "Heh... does this mean I win?" he asked with a wink.  
Knuckles looked at the screen. Both of their characters were just standing there, waiting for the players to take control.  
"Not this time!" Knuckles declared. He quickly grabbed his controller and attacked Sonic's character, who was now completely defenseless.  
"A-ah, hey!" Sonic quickly picked up his controller and tried to make things even again.  
Unfortunately, he was too late. Knuckles had the upper hand this time.  
Sonic pouted as his character lost the game. "Aw man!"  
He crossed his arms and tried to be angry, but he knew that Knuckles wouldn't buy it.  
Knuckles laughed. "Told ya I'd get you back!"  
Sonic blushed, then stared at Knuckles mischievously. "Fair enough... but I'm gonna win the war~"  
He discarded his controller and knocked Knuckles' away, then tackled his boyfriend into a kiss.  
"Mmph!" Knuckles grunted as was knocked to the ground. However, he soon became lost in the kiss once again.  
The two had completely neglected the game at that point.

There wasn't even a tiebreaker.


	17. New Arrivals (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another collab with sonic-nyoom! Enjoy!
> 
> (This, of course, is part of our main Sonknux AU.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Partly inspired by this prompt: Imagine Person A showing up on Person B’s doorstep with a bundle in their arms that turns out to be a baby that A had found abandoned. A wants to raise the baby with B, and B agrees, ~~even though they’re not a couple.~~

_Hmm... figured Knux would've gotten here by now..._

Sonic sighed, bending backwards and awkwardly leaning off of his hammock. They didn't plan on meeting each other, but this was basically Knuckles' home ever since the two started dating.  
 _Aw well. Guess I'll wait a bit longer._

Suddenly, a little ball of fur came dashing in--followed by Knuckles.  
"Hey, get back here!" Knuckles shouted.  
The brown puppy he was chasing didn't seem to listen. It kept running around the room, barking loudly, until Knuckles started to tire out.  
"Ugh...could...use some...help...here..." he panted.  
Sonic didn't understand what was happening, but shrugged and sped after the little dog, catching it in seconds. "Hey there, little guy," he greeted. "I--"  
He winced as the puppy licked his nose, causing him to pout in protest. "Man, I had a cool line prepared and everything..."  
"Phew, thanks," Knuckles said as he caught his breath. "So I found this little guy all alone...and he doesn't seem to belong to anybody. Can we please keep him?"  
"Eh?" Sonic asked, shocked by the suddenness of the question. "Geez, Knux, are ya sure? I mean, y'can't pick up every animal that's wound up all alone. Shouldn't you take him to that pet shop or somethin'?"  
"But...look at him..." Knuckles replied. "Can we please keep him, please?"  
He then used the most powerful weapon he had against Sonic: the puppy dog eyes.  
The actual puppy also proceeded to give Sonic "the eyes". It was now a 2 on 1 battle.

"A-angh..."  
Sonic grimaced. Knuckles was making that face again; he hated that cute face.  
He hesitated, trying his best to stay strong, then sighed.  
"Oh, fine. We can keep him," he agreed reluctantly.  
"Yay!" Knuckles exclaimed happily.  
The puppy wriggled out of Sonic's grip and ran over to Knuckles, barking and wagging his tail.  
"What should we call him?" Knuckles asked.  
"Hmm..." Sonic took a long pause, staring at the little dog and running names through his head.  
"How about... Nakkuru?" he suggested, giving Knuckles a small grin. "Or 'Kuru' for short!"  
Knuckles smiled. "I love it!"  
He picked up the puppy and hugged it. "So I guess that makes you Knuckles Jr," he said to the little fluffball, chuckling.  
Sonic giggled at how excitable Knuckles was, then lightly pet the puppy. "Did ya pick up anything for the little guy?"  
Knuckles froze. "Oh, um...it kinda slipped my mind..." he admitted sheepishly.  
Sonic laughed. "Gimme a few minutes then!"  
He quickly rushed out the door.

While Sonic was gone, Knuckles and Kuru went outside and ran around for a bit.

After a while, like he promised, the blue hedgehog sped back to the two, holding a few plastic bags. "How's this?"  
He sat down on the sand and smiled, picking up a small ball out of one of the bags and tossing it.  
Kuru chased after ball, his little legs a blur as he ran as fast as he could. He caught the ball in his mouth and brought it back to Sonic, tail wagging.  
"Heh, nice catch!" Sonic exclaimed, taking the ball back. He looked over at Knuckles and tilted his head. "Where'd ya find him? He looks pretty dirty..."  
"I found him in the trash," Knuckles explained. "Poor little guy was trying to find food in there, I think."  
"We should probably give him a bath," Sonic said. "Maybe fill a bucket with water and put him in there. I think I have special soap for dogs in here somewhere." He dug through the bags to look for it.  
"Okay," Knuckles replied. "Follow me, Kuru!"  
Knuckles and Kuru ran off in search of a bucket.

Shortly, they came back with one, and Knuckles had already filled it with water. "Does this work?" he asked Sonic.  
Sonic nodded. "Alright!" He gripped the bucket gently. "Put him in, but you might have to hold him if he starts movin' around..." he warned.  
"'Kay!" Knuckles picked up Kuru and gently lowered him into the bucket. Kuru started wriggling around, splashing the water. Within a few seconds, Knuckles was soaked.  
Sonic couldn't help laughing, but quickly focused on the task at hand and started washing Kuru.  
"Don't worry little guy," Knuckles said to Kuru, "this won't take too long! We just need to get you all cleaned up."  
Soon enough, Sonic finished cleaning Kuru and lifted him out of the bucket. "Alright, shake it off, bud."  
He ran inside his shack, then came out carrying a large towel. "I got someone else to deal with," he chimed, heading over to Knuckles and slowly drying him off.  
"Thanks Sonic," Knuckles said with a laugh.  
Kuru shook the water off his fur, then barked happily.  
Sonic glanced over at the bark. "Oh, you want attention too, huh?" He smirked and lifted Kuru into his arms, giving him a rough scratching. "As long as your master Knuckles doesn't get jealous!"  
Kuru wagged his tail happily. Knuckles giggled as he watched the two.  
Sonic tilted his head over to the bag. "I got a bunch of other stuff we'll have to set up for him too. Hopefully he won't cause too much chaos runnin' around."  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he behaves," Knuckles replied with a wink.  
"Psh, yeah right! Sonic said. "You're a troublemaker too!" he teased, promptly sticking his tongue out.  
"Oh yeah?" Knuckles crossed his arms, smirking. "Well you aren't so innocent yourself."  
Sonic knew where this was going and didn't mind one bit. "I dunno what you're talking about!"  
"Oh, I'm sure you do," Knuckles replied playfully.  
"Do not!" Sonic chimed back, picking up Kuru and holding him to his chest. "See? Kuru's even on my side! He believes me!"  
Kuru glanced at Sonic, tilting his head.  
"I don't think he does," Knuckles said with a laugh.  
"Shh, of course he does!" Sonic argued. He held the puppy up to Knuckles' face. "That's the face of cold hard truth right there!"  
"Hey, who's side are you on?" Knuckles asked Kuru, frowning.  
Kuru barked in reply.  
"That's pup-talk for 'Sonic's side'," Sonic told Knuckles with a grin.  
Knuckles huffed. "I'm disappointed in you, Kuru."  
Kuru's ears drooped. He let out a small whine.  
Knuckles sighed in defeat. "Aw man, I just can't be mad at you..."  
Kuru stretched his head towards Knuckles and started licking his face.  
"H-hey!" Knuckles protested with a laugh.  
"Good boy!" Sonic cheered, pressing the pup further against Knuckles. "Get 'im!"  
Knuckles was soon smothered in puppy kisses.  
"Okay, okay, you win!" Knuckles exclaimed.  
"Yes!" Sonic took the puppy back into his arms. "Victory is sweet!"  
"Yeah, well, enjoy it while you can," Knuckles replied with a smirk. "I'll make sure Kuru takes my side next time." He winked.  
"Yeah, sure, if you say so," Sonic said, waving a hand dismissively. He then looked up at the sky. "Think it's about time to get the little guy to bed? It's pretty late..."  
"Yeah, you're right," Knuckles replied reluctantly.  
Kuru yawned, and his eyelids drooped.  
Sonic chuckled. "Don't worry, Knux, you'll have plenty of time to play with 'im in the mornin'."

He picked up the bags and took them inside (returning the ball to the bag too before he forgot about it), then set them on the floor and searched through it.  
"I dunno how big he's gonna get, so I got a medium-sized one," he said, pulling out a dog-bed for Knuckles to see.  
They put Kuru in the bed.  
"Goodnight," Knuckles said, petting the puppy's head. "See ya tomorrow!"  
Kuru yawned again. Then he spun around in a circle before falling fast asleep.  
"I wonder why dogs do that..." Knuckles mused.  
"I dunno. Fun?" Sonic suggested. To test, he curled into a spindash and rolled onto the bed, making small circles on his side of the mattress.  
Knuckles giggled a bit. He didn't say it out loud, but he thought Sonic looked rather silly doing that.

He got onto the bed and snuggled up next to Sonic.  
Sonic didn't quite snuggle back, but he blushed and clearly enjoyed Knuckles' gesture, just as he always did. "Night..."  
"Night." Knuckles soon fell fast asleep.

Sometime later, Kuru opened his eyes. Good, both his new masters were asleep. He'd been waiting for this moment. He crawled out of his bed and went over to where Sonic and Knuckles were sleeping. He jumped onto the bed, made circles once again, and then went to sleep--for real this time.  
Sonic shifted a little, feeling the puppy against him. "M-mm?" He opened his eyes and looked down, the lightly shook Knuckles. "Hey, Knux, we got a visitor."  
"Hm?" Knuckles' eyes fluttered open.  
"Oh, hey Kuru," he said with a chuckle.  
Kuru didn't respond since he was already asleep.  
Sonic raised a brow. "Want me to put him back in his bed?"  
Knuckles gazed at the sleeping fluffball that was curled up between them.  
"Nah," he replied. "He looks cozy here." He smiled.  
"Softie," Sonic teased, sticking his tongue out. He paused, then looked back down at the dog. "K-Knux..."  
He pretended to look heartbroken. "I thought you said nothing would ever come between us?"  
Knuckles' eyebrows shot up. "Wh-wha? What are you talking abou--oh." He laughed. "Ya got me for a second there."  
Sonic grinned. "Hehe, I'm sorry." No he wasn't.  
Knuckles yawned. "Well, I think we should get some sleep."  
"Right." The blue hedgehog yawned too, though tried to keep quiet so not to wake Kuru up. "Niiiight again..." He slowly drifted off.

The next morning, Knuckles was suddenly awoken by slobbery puppy kisses.  
"Ugh...just five more minutes, Kuru..." he mumbled.  
Sonic heard his mumbling and woke up slowly. "Mm?"  
He smirked at the sight. "Remember, Knux; you asked for this!"  
Knuckles just wordlessly grumbled in reply.  
Kuru barked victoriously, wagging his tail.  
"Alright, up," Sonic told him, picking Kuru up and getting off the bed to give Knuckles a bit of space and time.  
Knuckles groaned as he practically rolled himself out of the bed.  
Sonic walked around the bed to Knuckles, then set Kuru down and held his arms out. "Need a wake-up kiss?" he asked, blushing slightly.  
Knuckles smiled. "Sure."  
Sonic pulled Knuckles up into a sitting position and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Heh, awake yet?" he asked.  
"Yeah, thanks." Knuckles stretched and yawned.  
"Any time!" Sonic said, sitting Kuru on his lap and scratching the puppy behind the ears.  
"So what should we do today?" Knuckles asked.  
"I dunno. What do people with dogs do?" Sonic asked, staring down at Kuru. "Geez, Amy's gonna go nuts when she sees this little guy..."  
"Oooh, we could play catch with him!" Knuckles suggested.  
"That could work!" Sonic reached into one of the bags sitting in the doorway and pulled out a small frisbee. "Wanna play, Kuru? I bet only the coolest dog in the world could catch this!"  
Kuru barked in approval, his tail wagging.

"Alright! Let's go then!" Sonic placed Kuru down, then sped outside and gave the frisbee a solid throw. "Fetch!"  
Kuru ran after the frisbee, tongue sticking out as he ran on his little legs. He jumped up and tried to grab the frisbee in midair, but ended up face-planting instead. He didn't seem discouraged, however. Instead, he got back up, shook himself off, and went over to where the frisbee had landed. He picked up the toy in his mouth and trotted back over to Sonic and Knuckles.  
"Good boy!" said Knuckles.  
Sonic knelt down and ruffled up Kuru's fur, then grabbed the frisbee from him. "Let's try this again, huh?" he suggested.  
He threw the frisbee, but a little more gently this time. It was successfully caught, but just not by Kuru.  
Sonic blinked, looking ahead.

"Sticks, drop it," Amy said with a small smile, patting her friend on the back. Sticks coughed the disc-like object out of her mouth, then glared at Amy. "There, but if it comes after me again, I'll do a lot worse!"  
"Hey, Sticks. Hey, Amy," Sonic greeted, waving a hand.  
Kuru ran over to the frisbee and picked it back up.  
"Hey guys!" Knuckles greeted. "What's up?"  
"Not much," Amy said. "We just thought we'd stop by!"  
"Thanks for the visit!" Sonic exclaimed. "We were just trainin' Kuru over here."  
"Kuru?" she inquired. She pointed at the puppy. "Him?"  
"Yup!" Sonic glanced over at Knuckles. "Someone came home yesterday and wouldn't let up 'til I said we could keep him."  
Knuckles grinned. Kuru ran over to him and dropped the frisbee at his feet. Knuckles picked it up and threw it.  
"Go get it, boy!" he said.  
Kuru didn't hesitate in running after it.  
"He's such a little cutie!" Amy chimed, almost squealing a bit.  
Sonic nodded. "Yeah. Dunno who'd let the poor pup out on his own, but he's with us now, so I guess it doesn't matter."  
Kuru ran back to Knuckles with the frisbee.  
"Good boy!" Knuckles said, taking the slobber-covered frisbee from him.  
Amy picked up Kuru and giggled, gently scratching his ears. "Who's-a good wittle puppy? You are!" She touched her nose to his, admiring how adorable he was.  
Sonic smirked, amused at how affectionate she was with his and Knuckles' dog.  
Kuru wagged his tail as he proceeded to smother Amy in puppy kisses. Knuckles giggled at the sight.  
"Ahh, hey!" Amy said, mixed between disgust at the slobbery licking and delight at how cute it was that he was licking her.  
"Amy, look out! It's eating your face!" Sticks warned, pointing her boomerang at the puppy.  
Sonic chuckled, leaning against Knuckles slightly. "These are the friends we're stuck with, Knux," he joked.  
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Knuckles replied.  
"Me neither," Sonic agreed. "Looks like we'll have someone to watch the pup whenever we go out though."  
Knuckles nodded, watching as Amy was smitten with a case of puppy love.  
"...Speakin' of which, it's been a while, huh?" Sonic asked. "Since we went on a date n' all."  
"Yeah, it has..." Knuckles realized.  
Sonic placed his hands behind his head and looked back at Kuru. "We'll have to fix that soon," he muttered, though blushing slightly at the realization of what he was saying.  
"Yeah, we will," Knuckles said with a wink.  
Sonic smiled, nudging Knuckles slightly. "It's a date."  
He then couldn't help asking, "So, you're not gonna let him sleep in our bed all the time, are ya? If he gets to be a big dog, we'll never get any sleep."  
Knuckles pouted. "I guess you're right..."  
"Aww, don't be like that!" Sonic said with a giggle. " I know I'm not as fuzzy, but you can just hold me instead."  
Knuckles blushed, but he smiled.  
Amy then walked over to the two and handed Kuru back. "Ugh, now I need a huge bath," she said, though giggling a little.  
Sonic shrugged. "It's part of his charm," he argued jokingly, holding Kuru with one arm and lightly scratching his stomach with the other.  
Knuckles patted Kuru on the head. "Who's a good boy," he cooed, "you are!"  
Sticks walked up and stared at the dog. "I don't trust it. It's too fuzzy and adorable..."  
"Don't worry, Sticks, I'm sure he's fine," Sonic assured, smirking and patting Kuru too.  
Kuru stared back at Sticks for a moment. Then he licked her face.  
Sticks jumped back, pointing her boomerang at the puppy. "It got me! It's evil!"  
She paused for a moment, then touched where she'd been licked. "...Okay, that wasn't too bad I guess."  
Kuru barked happily.  
"Anyway, Sticks and I should probably get going," Amy said, waving a bit. "You two have fun, okay?" She lightly took Sticks' hand and walked off.  
"Bye!" Knuckles called. "Say bye, Kuru!" He gently grabbed Kuru's paw and made him "wave" goodbye.

Sonic crossed his arms and looked back at Knuckles. "I'll set up his food and water dishes," he said, walking back inside.  
Knuckles and Kuru went inside as well, Kuru being eager to finally have some real food.  
Sonic pulled the dishes out of the bag and placed them down on the floor, then showed Knuckles various small bags of dog food. "I didn't know what he'd like, so I just grabbed at random," he explained, ripping one of the bags open and pouring it into the food dish. "I guess we'll have to get him a collar soon too..."  
Kuru ran over to the food dish and happily began to eat.  
"Wow, you sure were hungry!" Knuckles said.  
"Makes sense. Who knows what the poor guy's been eatin' before ya found him..." Sonic said with a frown, gently stroking Kuru's fur.  
"Well, he's safe now," Knuckles replied. "Right?"  
Sonic stood up and turned to him. "A'course. He's got a great guy like you lookin' after him after all!" he answered, giving Knuckles a small grin.  
Knuckles smiled at Sonic, blushing. "Th-thanks..."

Just then, Kuru finished his meal. He licked his chops and looked up at his masters, tail wagging.  
"Alright, so, it's still a little early for a date. What do you wanna do until then?" Sonic asked, reaching over and holding Knuckles' hand.  
Knuckles blushed again. "W-we could cuddle," he suggested. Even though they'd done this many times, he was still a bit shy about asking.  
Sonic blushed too. "R-right now?"  
"W-well, I mean...i-if you don't want to..." Knuckled replies, embarrassed.  
"Of course I do!" Sonic blurted out, always quick to react when it seemed like Knuckles was saying something self-consciously. His blush deepened at his quick response, but he tried to play it cool and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to him.  
Knuckles grinned, sitting down next to Sonic. He wrapped an arm around the hedgehog and snuggled close to him. Sonic smiled softly, leaning against Knuckles and letting out a soft 'mmm' sound to show that he approved. Knuckles gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

\--

A while passed since the two had gotten the dog. Sonic got him a collar and Knuckles always took him out for walks when he needed to.

What they probably didn't expect was that they'd get another arrival not too much later.

 _I guess Knuckles is probably still walking Kuru. He's taking a while though,_ Sonic thought. However, then again, everything took too long for him, so he figured it was nothing.

When Knuckles finally got back, he had brought someone extra with him. A baby Mobian cat, to be precise.  
"Hey, um...I found this baby girl abandoned, and um..." Knuckles wasn't even sure what to say.  
Sonic's eyes went wide as he glanced over. "You...you didn't..." Well, this seemed familiar.  
"I did..." Knuckles replied sheepishly. "But look at her; she's so cute and all alone...plus she's purple! And red and blue make purple, right? So...maybe we're supposed to take care of her?"  
He wasn't sure if he was making any sense.  
Sonic stood up from his position and walked over, gazing down at the baby wrapped in a little bundle. She stared up at him, her eyes a gentle yellow. It was true; she was a soft lavender color that turned purple at places. Sonic wouldn't say it out loud, but she was certainly cute.  
"I-I dunno, Knux. I know we talked about kids, but... I mean, we don't even know how to take care of one!" He wasn't entirely sure of his answer. Obviously they didn't know the advanced stuff, but the basics ran true; babies needed lots of sleep, food, and attention.  
"We can learn how!" Knuckles replied. "Come on, we can't just leave her all alone! Can we keep her, please?"  
Knuckles then pulled the puppy dog eyes. So did Kuru. And even the baby was giving Sonic that face. It was 1 against 3 this time around.  
Sonic staggered backwards at the assault, immediately turning nervous. "K-Knux, Kuru... n-ngh..." Why me...?  
He struggled to keep what little composure he had left, then plopped down on the floor. "Ugh, alright! We can keep her, just... stop doing that!" he shouted.  
Knuckles smiled victoriously. Kuru wagged his tail.  
"So what should we call her?" Knuckles asked.  
Sonic stood back up and stared at the baby. "Ah, hmm..." He smiled, placing his finger on the cat's nose and lightly stroking it to be playful with her. "Well, what'd you like to be named, kitty cat?"  
The baby said nothing, obviously, but the light stroking Sonic was doing caused her to gasp slightly. She pushed his finger away and scrunched her nose slightly. "A-ah... ah!"  
She bent her head down slightly, then sneezed, "ACHOO!!"  
Shockingly, a stream of fire shot from her mouth, setting the blanket she was wrapped in on fire!  
Knuckles quickly dropped the blanket and stomped the fire out. He stared for a moment at the child in his arms.  
"I know, we'll call her Blaze!"  
Sonic chuckled nervously. "III think that's a pretty accurate name!"  
Blaze giggled; she seemed to enjoy the name they gave her. Though, she looked down at the put-out fire and frowned, seeming apologetic.  
"Hey, it's alright," Sonic said softly, lightly scratching the cat's tummy. "Kinda my fault anyways."  
He then glanced up to Knuckles and smirked. "You're lucky I love you."  
Knuckles blushed. "I love you too."  
He gently scratched Blaze's little head. "And I love you too," he cooed.  
Kuru barked.  
"And I love you!" Knuckles said to him, chuckling lightly.  
Sonic looked around his house. Geez, this house was really only big enough for one. Now I've got Knuckles, Kuru, and Blaze here... He left the thought unspoken and stared back at Blaze. "I guess we've gotta go get a lotta stuff for her, huh?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I guess so," Knuckles replied. "And we'll have to make sure it's all fireproof!"  
Sonic nodded, then lightly shook Blaze's hand. "She's gonna give Egghead a real challenge when she gets older though!" he exclaimed. "Heh, bet she'll set his stache on fire."  
Knuckles laughed. "I'd love to see that!"  
Sonic nodded in agreement, then looked down at Kuru. "They'll let pets into stores, right? We could just go in with Kuru and see what Blaze likes," he suggested.  
"Sounds good to me!" said Knuckles.  
"Cool!" Sonic reached into Kuru's box of stuff, then pulled out a leash and attached it to Kuru's collar. "Sorry, bud," he said with a sheepish smile. "I'd hate bein' leashed too."  
He looked up at Knuckles. "You gonna carry her the whole time?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I think I will," Knuckles replied. "She can't walk yet, so someone's gotta carry her."  
Blaze smiled, cuddling into Knuckles' chest.  
"Shall we?" Sonic asked, walking out with Kuru.  
Knuckles grinned. "After you!"

The four went into the village together and headed into the store. Sonic felt slightly embarrassed at searching for baby stuff.  
"Need any help?" the owner asked. Sonic shook his head. "Naw, we're alright."

Knuckles tried to focus on the shopping, but he was too excited by the fact that he was finally going to be a father. Sure, the baby might not be related to him or Sonic by blood, but he could already feel himself forming a bond with Blaze.  
Sonic seemed to sense his excitement and looked back at him. "Careful, Knux. You might hurt yourself if that smile gets any bigger." He giggled, lightly poking Knuckles' cheek.  
Knuckles giggled too. "I'm just so excited!"  
Sonic didn't quite understand at first, but the situation quickly caught up with him. "Oh..." He smiled softly. "I-I guess she is kinda our daughter, huh?"  
Knuckles nodded, still grinning. He gently scratched Blaze under her chin, and her tail swished as she let out a loud purr. She giggled, lightly holding onto Knuckles' hand.  
"Should we get her some clothes too?" Sonic asked as he perused through all the bottles and pacifiers.  
"Yeah, we should!" Knuckles replied. "Too bad they don't make fireproof clothes..."  
"I wouldn't worry too much," Sonic said. "She's our daughter after all! She'll learn to control it in no time!"  
 _"Our daughter."_ Knuckles loved the sound of those words. "Okay then! Let's find Blaze some clothes!"  
Sonic grabbed an item box to stuff their items into, then snatched up a few things and moved on. "So, girly or not-so-girly?"  
He picked up a small dress, then showed it to Blaze. Personally, he found it pretty unappealing, but then again, it's not like he'd have to wear it, though a small bit of disgust still showed on his face. Blaze stared at it, then let out a cute grunting noise and turned her head away.  
"Not-so-girly it is!" Sonic exclaimed, returning the dress to its original spot and looking through the clothes again.  
Knuckles spotted Kuru sniffing at a piece of clothing.  
"Hmm, are you suggesting this one?" he asked jokingly.  
Sonic looked down at it. He had to admit, it looked pretty cool. "Let's give it a shot."  
He picked it up, then showed it to Blaze. "How's this one, kiddo?"  
Blaze quickly lit up, pulling the fabric to her face and snuggling into it, letting out a soft purring noise.  
"We've got a winner!" Sonic cheered, looking down at Kuru. "Nice job."  
Kuru wagged his tail proudly.  
"Good boy!" Knuckles said. "I guess we know what kind of thing to look for now."  
Sonic nodded. Eventually, they collected everything they needed, though it had taken a little longer than Sonic liked. Knuckles also had to hand over Blaze as, being the larger of the two, he was able to carry more stuff.

Once they got back home, Sonic sat down on his hammock, placing Blaze on his lap and looking over at Knuckles. "Just drop 'em anywhere," he said, pointing at all the bags the echidna had to carry. "Heh, sorry that ya had to carry most of it though!" He lifted up the single plastic bag he was holding for emphasis.  
Knuckles grunted as he put the stuff down. He was a little annoyed, but be brushed it off. He and Kuru went over to Sonic's hammock.  
"I don't think we've introduced you two," Knuckles said to Kuru and Blaze. He picked up Kuru and held him close to Blaze.  
"Kuru, this is Blaze. Blaze, Kuru."  
Kuru began to curiously sniff the baby cat in front of him.  
Blaze giggled, then pet Kuru's head.  
Sonic meanwhile noticed Knuckles' mild annoyance from before and pouted. "Hey, c'mon, I said I was sorry! You were the only one who could carry all that stuff!" He snuck a lip-kiss to the echidna since he was close enough.  
Knuckles' cheeks grew warm. "Well, I guess a kiss does make it better..." He winked.  
"Good!" Sonic said with a smirk. He then turned his attention to Blaze and lightly scratched her fur. "We should probably get her cleaned up and fed. We haven't done either since she got here."  
"Oh, right!" Knuckles replied. "What do we feed her, exactly?"  
"I bought some baby food and 'baby formula', whatever that is," Sonic said, digging into the bag next to him and pulling out both.  
"So which one do we give her?" Knuckles wondered.  
"I guess it doesn't matter," Sonic figured. Forgetting about the high-chair he'd bought, he cradled Blaze with one arm and popped one container of baby food open. "Pass me a spoon," he told Knuckles.  
Knuckles grabbed a spoon and handed it to him.  
"Alright, Blaze, open up," Sonic muttered as he scooped up a bit of baby food and held it up to her mouth. Blaze sniffed it, but scoffed at the smell and hit the spoon, sending its contents onto Sonic's face.  
He winced, then gazed down at Blaze, who shifted between concern and giggling. Sonic tried to be angry, but laughed along with her anyway.  
"I guess she doesn't like it," Knuckles commented, chuckling lightly.  
Sonic gave a fake glare at the echidna, then closed the container back up and wiped the baby food from his cheek. "Alright, let's somethin' else then."

After trying out a few different containers, Blaze finally took to one of the flavors and ate without complaint. Sonic looked over at Knuckles and smirked. "Next time, you're feeding her," he said jokingly. He honestly couldn't blame her, as he could be picky from time to time, and he'd certainly dealt with worse.  
Just then, Kuru walked over to them and started sniffing at Blaze's food.  
"No, Kuru!" Knuckles said sternly, but gently.  
Kuru heard him and backed away.  
"We already have one little babe to take care of; we don't need two," Sonic explained, trying to fake seriousness but laughing again.  
"Kuru, you've got your own food," Knuckles said, gesturing to the food bowls.  
Kuru, defeated, went over to his food dish and began to eat.

Once Blaze was fed, it was time to give her a bath. The two figured the bucket technique would work again, but any attempt to get Blaze dipped into the water caused her to cling to Sonic as much as she could while also making her let out a small whine.  
"Hm... well, this isn't working," Sonic said with a frown, trying to figure out what he could do. He wouldn't want to go into that bucket if he was Blaze either, but they needed to get her bathed.  
"I guess she doesn't like water," Knuckles mused. It did kind of make sense since Blaze had fire powers, but it also made things much more difficult.  
"No worries. I got this," Sonic assured. He got a small rag, then soaked it with water and body wash. "Blaaaze," he chimed, getting the cat's attention. "How's this?"  
Blaze grabbed it slightly as he held it out to her, then relaxed as he ran it through her fur.  
Sonic smiled. "There we go."  
"Oh, that works!" Knuckles said.  
Sonic chuckled. "Hold still, Blaze!" he said, the cat squirming and giggling as he reached her tummy. "Knux, we have a struggler! Someone doesn't like being a clean kitty!"  
Knuckles laughed lightly. "Here."  
He gently held onto Blaze to keep her from squirming too much. "Hold still, Blaze. You'll be clean soon!"  
Blaze calmed down a little, but seemed ticklish there. Still, it didn't take long for Sonic to finish up and dry her.

"How about daddy Knuckles puts your clothes on?" Sonic asked with a smile. "He deserves a bit of a challenge too, huh?"  
Blaze giggled.  
"Uh, okay." Knuckles wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but he would try.  
He grabbed one of Blaze's outfits and started trying to put it on her.  
Blaze was fairly cooperative, and with a little help from Sonic, Blaze was fully clothed and looking comfortable in her outfit.  
Sonic smiled, gently holding her hands in his own. "Who knew Kuru had such a good sense of fashion, huh?"  
"Yeah, she looks great!" Knuckles said with a grin.  
Kuru ran over to them, having heard his name. He sniffed at Blaze, then gave her a big puppy kiss.  
Blaze laughed at the kiss, sticking her tongue out and licking the puppy back.

The two played for a while until Sonic had set the crib up, at which point he scooped Blaze into his arms and carried her over. She seemed unsure about what was happening, but quickly started pouting once Sonic tried to get a blanket around her. "Ah, c'mon, Blaze. It's time for bed," he tried to argue. He stared over at Knuckles for 'help', not wanting to conquer that adorable face by himself.  
Knuckles walked up to them.  
"Now Blaze," he said, "we all need to get some sleep. You and Kuru can play more tomorrow."  
He gave her a light goodnight kiss on the head.  
Blaze giggled at the kiss, but still pouted. Sonic tucked her in, then went over to his bed and flopped onto it. "And I guess Kuru still doesn't want to sleep in his own bed?"  
As if in answer, Kuru jumped onto the bed next to Sonic.  
"Nope," Knuckles laughed.  
"Ahhh, well, ya never slept in your own bed anyway," Sonic said with a small sigh, raising a hand out to Knuckles to gesture him to come too.  
However, a wailing sound quickly came from the crib as Blaze began to cry, not liking being separated from her fathers.  
"Aw, Blaze wants to sleep here too!" Knuckles said.  
"Knuuux, you know that she'll never leave if we let her sleep with us tonight," Sonic argued, pointing at Kuru for an example.  
"But she's so lonely!" Knuckles looked at Blaze sadly, then looked back at Sonic pleadingly. "Plus she's probably scared after being abandoned," he pointed out.  
"A-ah..." Sonic rolled over. "Don't stare at me like that."  
"Please let her sleep with us," Knuckles said, "at least until she feels safe. Please?"  
Sonic's ears flopped down. "Knuuux." He paused, then sighed and got up, walking over to the crib. "Alright, Blaze. Up," he told her, reaching in and pulling her out. She smiled up at him, cooing as she snuggled against his fur.  
"You're lucky you're cute," the blue hedgehog murmured, lightly scratching her behind her ears. He sat back down on the bed, then laid back and allowed Blaze to rest on his stomach, covering her up to her neck with his blanket. "How's this?" he asked Knuckles, raising a brow and trying to be serious, though he couldn't help a smile at the adorable puppy and baby cat on the bed with them.  
Knuckles smiled. "She looks cozy," he said.  
He climbed into bed and snuggled next to his family.  
 _My family._ He grinned at that thought.  
"Yeah, she does..." Sonic glanced over at Knuckles, then smiled softly and slowly fell asleep, Blaze following suit.  
Knuckles smiled at how cute the two looked. Then he too soon fell asleep.  


(The end! :3)


	18. Surprise Party (Knuckles x Sticks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another collab with my buddy! Okay, we went against the prompt a little bit, but it's still pretty much the same idea. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine that Person A of your OTP has a special nickname or term of endearment for Person B. They have never called Person B this name in front of people, as they haven’t gone public with their relationship yet, but one night, at a party or event where lots of their friends and peers are present, Person A slips, and calls Person B the special name by accident. Person B blushes and hides their face when they realize that everybody has heard, but Person A grabs Person B by the hand and boldly announces to everybody present that the two of them are together. Everybody present applauds and hollers their congratulation as Person A pulls Person B into a passionate kiss.

Sticks clung to Knuckles almost protectively, though one might say that she was using him as a shield too as she glared at all the people at the huge party that was being thrown. Really, whose idea was this anyway? The place was loud, deceivingly colorful, and far too much stimuli for a paranoid badger like herself.

"You're going to be fine, Sticks," Knuckles said to her. "It's just a party!"  
Sticks held on tighter. "I don't trust 'em!" It was at least mildly understandable this time, as she probably didn't know most of the people there. Still, with all the talking that was going on, she couldn't decipher what anyone was saying.  
"Don't worry, it's safe," Knuckles tried to assure her. "Let's see if we can find our friends!"  
Sticks nodded, climbing up on Knuckles' shoulders and looking around for Amy, Sonic, or Tails.  
"Spot any of 'em?"  
"Hmmm..." Knuckles looked around. "I dunno, do you?"  
"Nu-uh," Sticks replied. "With all these 'disclow lights’ around, I can't tell blue from pink!" she complained.  
Knuckles looked around again. Then he pointed. "There! I see 'em!"  
Sticks lit up. "Ah, me too!" She leaped off of Knuckles' shoulders, ~~un~~ intentionally bounding off of a few people's heads to get to the three.

"There ya are!" she exclaimed, extending her hands outwards to show her excitement.  
"About time you guys showed up!" Knuckles said with a grin.  
"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Maybe you guys are just way too early!"  
Amy nudged Sonic playfully, then looked at Knuckles. "Are you and Sticks having fun?"  
Being reminded of the party, Sticks quickly clung back to Knuckles and looked around warily.  
"Well, Sticks isn't," Knuckles replied.  
"Y-yeah, I can tell," Amy said. "Sorry I asked."  
"Maybe she just has to get into the spirit!" Tails exclaimed. "She can't stay a recluse forever!"  
Sticks stuck her tongue out at the fox, then flinched as music starting playing; probably even louder than the people talking. Shaking, the badger quickly tried to run past Knuckles in an attempt to escape. "I'm getting outta here!" she yelled in a panic.  
Knuckles quickly grabbed her and held her back.  
"Whoa there! Calm down Sticks; it's just music!"  
Sticks screeched at all of the sounds echoing throughout her ears. "Nrrgh, lemme go!" she cried out, squirming in an attempt to get free. "I'M NOT STAYIN' HERE ONE SECOND LONGER!"  
"Sticks, just settle down for a moment!" Knuckles had to yell for her to hear him over all the noise.  
"Rrragh, never!" Sticks yelled back, squirming further. "I'm gonna go crazy if I stay in here any longer!"  
She pulled out her boomerang and threw it out randomly, simply not knowing what to do. It smashed into the machine playing the music, cutting it off abruptly and catching everyone's attention, though Sticks and Knuckles were still far too invested in their little 'wrestling match' to notice.  
"Please just calm down, Sweets!" Knuckles yelled.

Then he realized that everyone else had gone quiet. His face flushed in embarrassment as he realized that everyone had heard him use his affectionate nickname for Sticks.  
"I, uh, think I'll be going now!" he said nervously, as he started heading toward the exit.  
Sticks had frozen as Knuckles spoke her pet name. She flushed too, but quickly tried to hide her face.  
"...'Sweets'?" Amy said, grabbing Knuckles' hand to prevent him from leaving. She paused, then placed a hand to her cheek. "Aww, that's so cute!" she exclaimed. "Is it because she bakes you sweets all the time?"  
"Why would you have a name like that for her?" Tails inquired. "Using someone's regular name is pretty much the norm unless... you two are an item...?" It was more of a statement, but it came out as a question, the fox looking fairly surprised. "The only other time I've heard something like that is when Sonic calls Amy 'Ames'—OUCH!" Tails was quickly silenced by a sharp jab to the arm from Sonic.  
"Y-yeah, well, I, um..." Knuckles stammered. He was too nervous and embarrassed to speak. "I, uh..."  
Sticks paused for a moment longer, then stared out at all the people who were now gazing at her and Knuckles. Seeing how embarrassed Knuckles was, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the crowd. "Well, so what? Huh? You got somethin' to say about it, huh!?" she asked. Immediately, everyone looked away, remaining silent. Sticks huffed, then gently took Knuckles' hand, muttering a "we're leaving" before starting to head out with him.  
"Ah, wait!" Amy called out, walking up to them. She smiled softly. "Congratulations."  
"Th-thanks," Knuckles said shyly.  
_I can't believe I did that..._ he thought to himself. _Now the entire village probably knows!_

Sticks left the house with Knuckles, then let go of his hand and turned to him. "Well, are you alright?" she asked. Though she tried to be strong, there was a light blush on her cheeks and she still seemed flustered.  
Knuckles sighed. "I'm really sorry for slipping up back there," he said, looking down at his shoes.  
Sticks shook her head. "There's nothin' to worry about!" she assured. Her expression turned playful. "If anyone says anything, I'll clobber 'em!"  
Knuckles smiled. "Thanks, Sticks. So...what do we do now?"  
Sticks crossed her arms, gazing at him as if the answer was obvious. "Anything that isn't partying!"  
"Anything?" Knuckles asked both slyly and bashfully. "Maybe like...a kiss?"  
_Shoot, why did I say that?_ _I just can't seem to keep my mouth shut today..._

Sticks blushed further at the suddenness of the question, but shrugged anyway. "That'll do!"  
She reached up to him, either gesturing for him to come closer or gesturing for him to pick her up.  
Knuckles went over and picked her up. He gently kissed her on the lips, his eyes slowly closing as he sank into the kiss.  
Sticks kissed him back; she still didn't quite have the hang of kissing, but then again, neither did Knuckles.

Though, a sudden clapping sound quickly broke her away from the kiss. Sonic, Tails, and Amy stood a few meters behind them, clapping away from seeing the two be so affectionate with each other.  
They pulled away from the kiss, and Knuckles looked behind him at his friends. His face flushed once again.  
"Uh...h-how long were you standing there?"  
"Long enough," Amy chimed, acting like she had a camera in her hands and 'snapping a picture of the two'.  
"You could've just told us any time, you know," Tails said. "It's not like your relationship's a big issue."  
"I-I know," Knuckles replied. "I guess we were just too shy to say anything."  
"That's alright," Sonic assured. "But it wasn't like we wouldn't never figure it out ourselves if ya kept quiet."  
"Well, I guess everyone knows now," Knuckles said sheepishly.  
Sticks lightly nudged Knuckles to reassure him, then pulled him in for a spontaneous kiss.  
"A-augh..." Sonic nearly felt his gag reflex kicking in, not expecting it this time. "You guys aren't gonna do that all the time now that we know, are ya?"  
Knuckles would've smirked if he could. He returned the kiss, trying to keep it going for a while just to mess with Sonic.  
Sonic made another disgusted sound. Amy however, playfully nudged him. "Aww, c'mon, Sonic. It's sweet! You'll be doing that too whenever you get a girl of your own!" she teased.  
Sonic's ears shot up, and a small blush came to his cheek. "...I'm out." He quickly sped off, leaving Knuckles and Sticks to kiss as much as they wanted to.

(The end! XD)


	19. The Necklace (Eggman x Barker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another collab story about the world's best crack ship. ;)
> 
> (I put the prompts at the end this time to avoid spoilers. I might start doing this from now on.)

_Beep._  
_Beep._  
_Beep._  
  
Barker looked up from his book, hearing the lab's signal that someone had come in. He shut the book, then placed it on the table and glanced up at the monitor, seeing that Eggman was back.  
_Hm..._ He looked over at the clock. _He's later than usual. Wonder what he was doing?_

Eggman walked into the room. "Hey there, T. W.! Sorry I was gone for so long."  
"It's fine," Barker said with a shrug, quickly going back to gazing at his book; the last thing he needed was for Eggman to know that he had secretly been worried about him. Still though, he couldn't help asking, "Where have you been?"  
"Oh uh, I was...shopping," Eggman replied. He seemed a bit nervous all of the sudden.  
Barker raised a skeptical brow. "Shopping...?" he asked, curious about Eggman's nervousness.  
"Y-yeah, shopping." Eggman reached into his pocket, then hesitated for a moment.  
Barker said nothing, gazing at the hand in Eggman's pocket.  
Slowly, Eggman pulled out an object: two necklaces, each having half of a heart.  
"I, um, th-these are supposed to be for lovers," Eggman explained nervously, blushing. "So I um, I thought of you and decided to get them..."  
Barker blushed, grimacing slightly as he grabbed one half. "Oh, uh... really?"  
Eggman nodded. "Y-yeah, I...I hope you like it."  
Barker stared back at him, not wanting to reject his kindness. He hesitated, then sighed and strapped the necklace around his neck. "This is a ridiculous accessory," he mumbled, his blush reddening.  
"But you're blushing," Eggman pointed out with a sly grin.  
Barker let out a huff. "I-irrelevant," he argued, turning away from Eggman and trying to keep his blush down.  
Eggman smirked at him, then put on his own necklace. "There, now we match!"  
"Yes, yes. Very nice..." Barker mumbled. He certainly appreciated Eggman's effort, but this was far too embarrassing for his tastes.  
“So, um..." Eggman blushed a little. "I was wondering, you know, if you um...wanted to go out for dinner?"  
_While wearing this?_  
Barker hesitated, then turned back to Eggman. "Of course I would."  
Eggman held out his hand, smiling. "Shall we?"  
Barker bowed and grabbed Eggman's hand. "We shall."

Time passed, and Eggman wore his necklace non-stop. He didn't care if people looked at it or not; it was a sign of his love with Barker. Barker, on the other hand, was never seen with the necklace again after that day. Like he'd said, he found it embarrassing.

On one of their dates, Barker couldn't help himself from staring at Eggman's necklace. "You're  _really_  still wearing that?" he asked.  
"Of course!" Eggman replied. "Why wouldn't I?"  
"Aren't you concerned about your reputation?" Barker asked. "People won't take you seriously as a villain if you go around with that around your neck, right?"  
"Eh, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't exactly have much of a reputation to begin with," Eggman replied sheepishly. "And besides, my love for you matters more than anything else," he added with a wink.  
Barker blushed redder, though quickly hid his face behind a hand. "You say the... ugh." He sighed, but a smile was clearly on his face.  
"By the way, where's your half?" Eggman asked. "I haven't seen you wearing it at all!"  
Barker crossed his arms and huffed, his cheeks pink. "I-I lost it. Besides, it's a ridiculous obligation." He shifted his gaze away. "You... know I love you regardless, don't you?"  
"Y-yeah, I know," Eggman replied, though he couldn't completely hide his disappointment.  
Barker sighed, then held Eggman's hand from under the table. "Don't give me that face," he muttered, hating to see Eggman disappointed.  
Eggman blushed a little when he felt his hand being held. He couldn't help but crack a small smile as he squeezed Barker's hand.  
Barker was just glad that he was out of the necklace conversation.

Days passed, and Barker was at work with his circus performers, giving them a stern gaze as he lectured away at them.  
"What were you idiots thinking!?" he asked. "I told you; you have to follow the performance move for move, or something like THIS happens!" he yelled.  
Suddenly, he was interrupted by Eggman walking in.  
"Hey, T. W.! You um, forgot your lunch."  
Barker flinched at the voice, then turned, gazing at Eggman. "E-Egg--" He cleared his throat; there was no way his subordinates were going to see him being anything but a stern boss. "Doctor Eggman. Ahm, thank you. That'll be all," he said, averting his gaze and holding his hand out for the lunch.  
"Here you go!" Eggman handed him his lunch. Then he gave Barker a quick hug and a peck on the nose.  
"See you later!" he called as he left.  
Barker blushed red at the nose kiss. He looked back at his workers, some of which had their mouths dropped open, and others that were giggling at him.  
"What are you staring at!?" he asked loudly, pointing an accusing finger at them despite his red face. "Clean this place up and quit gawking!"

After his work day was over, he headed back to Eggman's lab, which had pretty much become his second home at this point. He couldn't help but be a little upset. He was talking to Eggman about his reputation forever ago, wasn't he?  
He opened the door to the main room, then glanced over at Eggman. "So, what was that?" he asked with a bit of annoyance in his tone.  
"What was what?" Eggman glanced up from what he was doing, clearly confused.  
" _This!_ " Barker said, dropping the bag that once held his lunch to the ground. "What were you thinking, kissing me like that in front of all my workers!?" he asked.  
"Wh-what's wrong with that?" Eggman asked him, looking a bit hurt. "It was just a little sign of my affection for you, that's all."  
"And that's fine!" Barker said. "But you don't have to embarrass me in front of my circus performers!" He groaned and put his hands to his head. "They might never take me seriously again!"  
"I-I'm sorry..." Eggman said quietly. "I...I guess I just couldn't help it."  
"Yes, I've noticed," Barker growled. "You're so affectionate all the time! Can't you just give it a break!?" He didn't know if he truly meant everything he said, but he was too upset to really think about it.  
"And you're not affectionate enough!" Eggman suddenly snapped back. "And you're always embarrassed around me! What, are you ashamed of me? Am I just not good enough for you? I do just about anything to show my love for you, but you don't even seem to care!" He crossed his arms, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face.  
"Of course I care, but what do you want from me?" Barker asked. "Unlike  _you_ , I actually have a status to uphold!"  
He huffed, but his angry expression lessened slightly.  _Did... did I just say that?_  
Eggman looked like he'd been slapped in the face, almost on the verge of tears. Then his face turned red with anger. "If you hate me that much, then why don't you just leave already?" he yelled.  
Barker's ears perked at his angry reaction, which only fueled his own anger back up to full. "Fine then, I will!"

He turned away and began to walk out, but the door opened as Orbot and Cubot suddenly charged in.  
"Boss, we heard shouting and we--!" Though Orbot stopped in time, Cubot flew right into Barker, causing the two to stumble backwards.  
Barker went to make a rude comment about the two, only to flinch as he heard the sound of something hitting the floor. He looked down, noticing that his half of his and Eggman's necklace had fallen out from under his outfit and fallen to the ground. His face reddened, and he tried to scramble to pick it up before Eggman noticed.  
Eggman, however, did take notice.  
"You...you had it the whole time." It wasn't a question.  
Barker flushed, keeping his body turned away from Eggman. "Of...of  _course_  I did..." he said. "It might've been a silly idea, but..." He sighed heavily. "It still meant a lot to me. Just because I was too embarrassed to let anyone see it, didn't mean I wasn't going to wear it at all."  
"But...then...why did you tell me you lost it?" Eggman's voice had gone quiet again. "You wouldn't even wear it when it was just us."  
"Because..." Barker stared down at the necklace. "You remember what happened with all those women I dated. I always got rejected, no matter how romantic I tried to be." He shrugged, lightly fiddling with the heart of the necklace. "So I figured that I didn't quite know how to be truly romantic or affectionate; that I simply must not be good at it," he explained, "and... I didn't want to lose you because of that. I didn't want to try."  
"Barker." Eggman got up from his chair and walked over to Barker, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're not gonna lose me that easily! As long as you're trying, that's good enough for me."  
Barker looked up at him. "You mean that?" he asked. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all those idiotic plans I once had to woo those women."  
"Hey, I've tried some really stupid methods of trying to get a date too." Eggman laughed sheepishly. "Don't...don't ask.”  
Barker chuckled amusedly, then stared at Eggman's necklace. "Ah... I...I apologize," he said. "I didn't mean to say such things."  
He reached over and gingerly held Eggman's hand. "I'm not used to being affectionate to another."  
"It's okay, T. W." Eggman placed his other hand over Barker's, smiling softly.  
Barker paused for a moment, gazing at the ground, then gripped his half of the necklace. "So... are we still...?"  
Eggman nodded. "If that's what you want!" he replied with a wink.  
Barker nodded in return, then frowned. "...I need to go now actually." He glanced up at Eggman, almost shyly. "Would you mind bringing me lunch again tomorrow?"  
Eggman smiled. "I'd be happy to!"  
Then he turned around, an annoyed expression taking over. "...were you two standing there the whole time?"  
Orbot and Cubot flinched, then quickly flailed about and flew out of the lab, yelling a lot of "Sorry!" and "We didn't mean to!"s.  
Barker chuckled, then headed out of the lab.

The very next day was usual; he was back in his circus tent, giving out a performance plan to his workers while he secretly waited for Eggman.

Soon, Eggman came walking in, right on cue.  
"Here's your lunch, T. W.!" He handed the bag to the wolf and gave him another small kiss on the nose.  
"Hey, how about I take you out to dinner tonight?" he whispered in Barker's ear. Then without waiting for him to answer, he walked back out of the circus tent.  
"Ah ah ah!" Barker said in a very 'tsk tsk' tone. He gestured for Eggman to walk back over to him.  
"Hm?" Eggman stopped, then turned and walked back into the tent. "What is it?"  
Barker walked up to him, reaching out and gently holding his hand. Then, in a sudden motion, he used his free hand to grab hold of Eggman's outfit and pull him down to his level, an extremely rough kiss placed against the doctor's lip.  
After a few seconds, he let go and pulled away, looking down and pulling the heart of his necklace out of his uniform, showing that he'd been wearing it the entire day.  
His workers all stared with stunned expressions, but quickly got back to work as Barker turned around. "Alright, I want that cannon sparkling clean!" he shouted. "Especially on the inside!"  
He walked away as if nothing had happened, his hands behind his back.  
Eggman was stunned at first, his face flushing pink. Then he chuckled. "See you tonight?"  
Barker stopped walking, turning his head towards Eggman and giving him a toothy grin. "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on these two prompts:
> 
> “Person B of your OTP sternly addressing (or reprimanding) a large crowd of co-workers, subordinates, or teammates. Then imagine Person A coming through the door to kiss Person B on the nose, give them a lunch, and all manner of other cute things that throws Person B off, flustering Person B in front of the crowd.”
> 
> and
> 
> “Person A buying a cute heart charm necklace and giving Person B the one half, while they keep the other. Person B makes like they don’t care for silly commodities and even says they’ve lost it after some time. However, during a minor argument with Person A, the half heart falls out of Person B’s pocket as they try to storm out.”


	20. Repression (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Boom!Sonknux collab story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This story contains mentions of child abuse. If this kind of thing disturbs you, you may want to skip this chapter.

"So, Knux, how does Meh Burger sound?" Sonic asked, a small smile on his face as they walked through the village.  
"Sounds good to me!" Knuckles replied with a grin.

The two headed into their usual eating place, though stopped as they noticed a mother and her child standing in line. They seemed to be arguing about something.  
"Geez, wonder what happened," Sonic muttered, noticing how angry the mother looked.  
Knuckles felt a bit anxious as he watched them fight, though he wasn't really sure why. He tried to ignore them, but their shouting was just getting louder and louder.  
The two continued to fight and argue, until the mother's hand was suddenly raised. In a swift motion, she slapped the child across the face, the sound easily reaching the two friends.  
" _Harsh_ ," Sonic muttered under his breath, looking away as his ears flopped down. "Glad I'm not _that_ kid."  
Knuckles, however, barely heard him. His eyes were wide, his breathing was heavy, and his entire body was shaking. After a few moments, he let out a distressed cry and fled from the scene.  
Sonic's ears twitched violently at the noise as he jerked his head over to Knuckles. "K-Knux? Hey, wait!"  
He chased after the echidna, though only keeping up with him and not stopping him; he looked distressed and Sonic imagined that he wouldn't want the village to see him like that.

Knuckles eventually stopped in the forest and flopped down against a tree. He stared blankly at nothing, his arms wrapped around himself as he caught his breath.  
Sonic slowly walked toward him, kneeling down worriedly. "Hey, bud. You okay?" he asked, though he knew the answer.  
Knuckles seemed startled, as if he hadn't realized Sonic was there. He shook his head.  
"What's up?" Sonic asked, reaching hesitant hands out towards his friend. "You're shaking..."  
Knuckles whimpered. "I-I don't wanna talk about it..."  
"Hey, we're pals, aren't we?" Sonic asked, seeming slightly offended by Knuckles' response. "You can talk to me..."  
Knuckles hesitated. "W-well...um...d-do you ever forget things, and then, something happens that...makes you remember?"  
Sonic's mind clicked. "You mean... that mother earlier, when she slapped her kid?"  
Knuckles nodded, whimpering again.  
"What about it?" Sonic asked, tilting his head.  
Knuckles took a deep breath. "It...it gave me back my memories of _my_ parents."  
Sonic cringed at the implications that made. "O-oh... yeah?" His voice was quiet.  
Knuckles nodded. "Y-yeah." He grimaced as the memories flashed by in his mind. "Th-they...they slapped me a lot too. And yelled at me. And when they weren't being mad at me, they just acted like...like I didn't even exist..."  
Tears were forming in his eyes. "Th-they said I was s-stupid, and worthless, and a 'screw-up', a-and how they hated being stuck with me...th-they never said 'I love you', o-or cared about my feelings, they blamed me for everything..."  
Knuckles was starting to cry now. "A-and they hit me a lot...a-and when I asked them to s-stop, they just told me to s-suck it up and stop being s-such...a w-wimp..."  
Tears spilled down his cheeks as he recalled the nightmare that was his childhood. Just thinking about it was making him feel sick to his stomach, and he was suddenly thankful that he hadn't eaten lunch yet.  
Sonic's expression softened. "K-Knux..."  
He saddened, placing a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "So that's why you couldn't remember. You repressed it..."  
Knuckles nodded. "A-and then...th-they took me to Angel Island and...l-left me there...all alone...a-and then I forgot everything."  
Knuckles closed his eyes, wishing the horrible images would just go away. He could almost hear their voices again, and a stinging in his cheek from countless slaps in the face. Sobs racked his body as he shook with fear.  
It broke Sonic's heart to see his friend like this. He hesitated, then brought his arms around Knuckles and hugged him. "That's in the past, Knux. They're gone now."  
"M-my memories though...th-they feel so r-real..."  
Knuckles buried his face into Sonic's fur and continued to sob.  
Sonic let out a small sound of discomfort, but continued hugging Knuckles, not sure what else he could do. "I-I know, but they're not here _now_. It's just me, you, Tails, Amy, and Sticks," he said.  
Knuckles said nothing. He continued to sob for quite some time.  
Sonic sighed sadly, lightly stroking Knuckles' back. He kept quiet, letting Knuckles get all his emotions out.

After a while, Knuckles quieted down somewhat. He still seemed distressed, however.  
Sonic gently pet his head. "Feeling better?"  
"A little," Knuckles replied, wiping his eyes. "Thanks."  
He sighed sadly.  
Sonic frowned. "What's still buggin' you?"  
Knuckles hesitated for a moment. "Well, i-it's just...people have always hated me. A-and now I know that my own parents hated me too..."  
He sighed again. "No one's ever really loved me. And I doubt they ever will..."  
Sonic grew silent, his ears flopped downwards at Knuckles' words. The silence became uneasily long, until Sonic gripped Knuckles tighter, his voice becoming unusually soft.  
" _I_ do..."  
Knuckles' eyes went wide. "H-huh?" He wasn't sure if he'd heard Sonic right.  
Sonic became a bit tense, averting his gaze from Knuckles and sighing.  
"... _I_ do. I love ya, big guy," he replied, his voice a little shaky; he wasn't used to saying something so affectionate.  
Knuckles blushed heavily. "Y-you...you do?"  
Sonic blushed just as badly, placing a nervous hand behind his head and nodding.  
More tears came to Knuckles' eyes. But this time, he was smiling. Suddenly, he threw his arms around Sonic and hugged him.  
"W-whoa!" Sonic gasped, surprised by the sudden hug. "W...what are you...?"  
"Uh...hugging you?" Knuckles replied. "Does that...does that bother you?" he asked, feeling embarrassed.  
"No! Not at all," Sonic said, blushing a bit more. "Just... I didn't expect that reaction from you," he admitted.  
Knuckles hugged him tighter. "I didn't expect you to say you loved me." He smiled. "But I'm glad you do, because I love you!"  
"Huh? Seriously?" Sonic asked. "You do?"  
"Of course I do!" Knuckles replied. "Why wouldn't I?"  
"I dunno," Sonic admitted. "Just... y'never really gave me any signs!"  
Maybe he was more oblivious than he thought.  
"I tried," Knuckles replied. He smiled sheepishly. "Guess I wasn't obvious enough, huh?"  
Sonic shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter now."  
He paused, he smirked and leaned closer. "Buuut I guess you deserve a little reward for tryin'."

His lips made contact with Knuckles', and he held the contact despite his suddenly-fast heartbeat.  
Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise, but he didn't object. He closed his eyes, his cheeks growing warm. He tried his best to kiss back, despite his lack of experience. His heart fluttered, and all of his sadness and fear seemed to no longer exist. For this moment, it was just him and the one he loved.  
Sonic leaned further into the kiss, his hands reaching up and promptly being placed on Knuckles' cheeks. He'd wanted to do this for a while, so he was going to cherish it.  
Knuckles blushed at this, letting out a muffled giggle. He still had his arms around Sonic, and he pulled the hedgehog even closer to him.

After a moment, Sonic pulled away and took a breath, grinning wide at Knuckles. He opened his mouth to speak, but just ended up chuckling happily.  
Knuckles grinned back, his cheeks still glowing pink.  
"Th-thank you. I feel a _lot_ better now!"  
"Good," Sonic said with a firm nod. "I mean, if your parents treated you that way, it's their loss. They don't know what they gave up."  
Knuckles blushed even more. "Y-you really think that?"  
Sonic raised a brow. "Well, _duh _. What, I gotta kiss you again to prove my point?" he joked.__  
"I...I wouldn't mind," Knuckles replied, giggling sheepishly.  
Sonic rolled his eyes, then pulled himself closer to Knuckles and gave him another kiss, though it was a bit more rough this time around.  
Knuckles giggled some more, clearly enjoying the affection he was receiving.  
Sonic then pulled away, giving the echidna a small grin. "Believe me now?"  
Knuckles nodded happily. "Mmhmm!"  
He was still hugging Sonic.  
Sonic thought a bit, then tilted his head. "So, y'think you can still go to Meh Burger with me?" he asked. "On a date this time?" He blushed. "We can head to my place after that if you want."  
Knuckles grinned. "I'd love to."

The two then headed out. Even though they called it a 'date', nothing really changed. Still, it felt special.

Heck, even their time spent back at Sonic's shack felt special. They were just playing video games together, but it somehow seemed so much more romantic now that they knew about their feelings for each other.

However, Sonic realized how long they'd been playing and looked up at the sky. "It's getting pretty late," he said, setting his controller down. "Guess you gotta, uhhh, head 'home'?" he asked, though knowing that Knuckles didn't quite have a house to speak of.  
Knuckles' head drooped sadly. "I guess so."  
"...Though," Sonic muttered, scratching his cheek sheepishly. "you could stay if y'want. I mean, if you wouldn't mind crashin' on the hammock with me."  
Knuckles blushed. "W-would that be okay?"  
Sonic shrugged. "I wouldn't mind. Would _you_ be okay with it?" he asked.  
Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."  
Sonic blushed slightly, then climbed onto his hammock, sitting down and waiting patiently for Knuckles.  
Knuckles carefully climbed on next to him. He smiled.  
"Thanks, Sonic."  
Sonic smiled at him, but shifted awkwardly on the hammock. "S-so, er... do we cuddle or something?"  
"If that's okay with you," Knuckles replied shyly.  
Sonic went quiet at that, then laid down, taking Knuckles with him and cuddling into the echidna, not saying a word.  
Knuckles blushed and smiled. He wrapped an arm around Sonic and pulled him even closer, nuzzling him.  
Sonic enjoyed the close contact, but was easily blushing more than Knuckles was.  
"...Y-you won't tell anyone about this, will you?" he asked nervously.  
Knuckles chuckled. "Oh fine, I won't tell!"  
Sonic hugged him tight, hiding his face in his chest. "Good..."  
He slowly drifted off to sleep.  
Knuckles nuzzled him again, smiling softly. He too soon fell asleep.

An hour or so passed, and Sonic was slowly awakened by Knuckles' shivering. He stared at the echidna's face, seeing that he seemed to be in distress as he sleep. "Hey, Knuckles!" he called, shaking his boyfriend.  
Slowly Knuckles stirred, his eyes fluttering open.  
"Wha--Sonic?"  
"You okay, Knux?" he asked worriedly.  
"Y-yeah..." Knuckles' breathing slowly returned to normal. "I...I had a bad dream."  
"Oh..." Sonic frowned. "Are... you gonna be okay? Anything I can do?"  
Knuckles blushed. "Could...could you sing me a lullaby?" he asked sheepishly.  
Sonic's ears perked up. "Uh... I mean, I'm surprised you remember me singing that one time," he admitted.  
"How could I forget?" Knuckles replied, smiling softly. "You sounded so nice!"  
Sonic blushed, rolling his eyes somewhat at the praised. "...You sure you wanna me sing a lullaby?" he asked.  
Knuckles nodded. "Pleeeeeease?"  
Sonic pouted, unable to resist the look he was being given. "A-alright..."  
He searched his head to see if he knew any lullabies, then found one he remembered and took a breath, starting to sing.  
Knuckles smiled as Sonic sang. His boyfriend's voice was soothing to him, and it quickly banished all of his nightmares away. His eyes began to droop, and soon he was drifting off once more.  
Sonic saw that Knuckles was sleeping, but still finished the lullaby completely before allowing himself to rest. He lightly kissed Knuckles' forehead, then drifted off to sleep.  
"Night, Knuckles..." 


	21. Recovery (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Person A got a moderate/ly major concussion and, after going to the hospital, is now home with B to take care of them. This mostly entails A sitting around and B keeping a watchful eye on them, but then A walks over to B, looking like a pathetically sad child, and just slumps onto them and starts sobbing seemingly for no reason (random sobbing and euphoria are common concussion symptoms). A is confused about why they are crying, but B figures out what’s going on and just comforts them through it. Secretly they are slightly amused and think it’s a bit adorable.

Sonic slumped over his table worriedly, glancing back at Knuckles occasionally, who was sound asleep on his hammock. The echidna had suffered a bad concussion recently, and while he'd be fine according to the doctor, Sonic absolutely _refused_ to leave his boyfriend's side; he wanted to be the first thing Knuckles saw when he woke up.

Knuckles opened his eyes and groaned. "S-Sonic?"

"Knux!"

In an instant, Sonic was at his side. "How are you feelin'? You alright?"  
Without warning, he placed a kiss on Knuckles' lips. He'd been _so_ worried.  
Knuckles blushed at the kiss. "I'm not feelin' so good..." he moaned.  
"I know, big guy," Sonic said with a frown. "Y'got a concussion during our last fight with Egghead."  
He averted his gaze and gave an angry glare to nothingness. "I made sure that _he_ won't be comin' back for a while."  
He placed a gentle hand on Knuckles', smiling softly. "You're gonna be okay. You just need to rest for a while."  
Knuckles sighed reluctantly. "Okay..."  
He tried to roll over, but then he put his hands to his head and grimaced.  
"U-ugh...stop spinning..."  
Sonic saddened. "Don't move too much, Knux. You're still recovering."  
He gently took one of Knuckles' hands in his. "Y'need anything?"  
"I-I dunno..." Knuckles mumbled. "I...I feel nauseous."  
"That's normal," Sonic said. He reached a hand up and lightly stroked his boyfriend's cheek, wishing he could help more.  
"When am I gonna feel better?" Knuckles asked.  
"The doctor said a few days to a week or somethin'," Sonic replied, knowing that it probably wasn't the answer Knuckles wanted to hear.  
"That's way too long!" Knuckles whined.  
"I know," Sonic said with a sigh. "But hey, we get to spend more time together, right?" He hoped to lift Knuckles' spirits with that.  
Knuckles blushed, managing to crack a small smile. "Y-yeah."  
He groaned. "I feel so tired..."  
"Lay down," Sonic told him. "If you're sleepy, you should rest. Just focus on getting better." He blushed, having never doted on someone so much in his life.

"Okay," Knuckles grumbled. He curled up as if preparing to go back to sleep, but then just blankly stared ahead.  
Sonic watched him, then lightly pet his head. "You alright, bud?" he asked.  
"I want to sleep but I can't," Knuckles sighed.  
Sonic thought hard. "Anything I can do to help?"  
"I dunno," Knuckles replied.  
Suddenly, he began to sniffle, as if beginning to cry.  
Sonic's ears perked. "Knux? You okay?" he asked cautiously.  
"I don't know!" Knuckles replied, just before he burst into tears out of seemingly nowhere.  
Sonic stiffened at the sudden crying, but was quick to react, hugging Knuckles and letting him sob.  
Knuckles buried his muzzle into Sonic's fur as he sobbed.  
"Wh-why am I crying?" he managed to get out, his voice muffled.  
Sonic said nothing, lost for an answer himself.  
However, he quickly remembered that the doctor told him about how one reacted when recovering from a concussion.  
"I-I think it's from the concussion. Your head's still a bit messed up," he explained.  
"I don't like having my head messed up," Knuckles whimpered.  
Sonic tried to smile for him. "Don't you worry. You'll be better soon."  
"I h-hope so," Knuckles sniffled. "P-people already say my h-head's damaged, a-and now it's..." he sniffled again, "...e-extra damaged."  
Sonic's eyes went wide, and he pushed Knuckles away slightly to wipe his tears. " _Knuckles_ , don't tell me you believe all that stuff!" he said, a little anger in his tone just from thinking about all the people who mistreated him.  
"H-how can I not?" Knuckles replied, tears still sliding down his cheeks. "I mess e-everything up, m-my brain never works when I want it to, and everyone thinks I'm...d-dumb."  
_I_ don't," Sonic corrected, grabbing hold of Knuckles' muzzle to force eye contact. "So what if you're a little slow? Y'didn't grow up like everyone else did!"  
He paused, his angry expression dissipating. "Besides... you learned our language, didn't ya? I'd say that's pretty impressive. _None_ of us knew how to talk to ya, and you just picked up our language all by yourself!"  
He pulled Knuckles closer, kissing his forehead. "That's pretty smart if you ask me."  
Knuckles blushed heavily. "Y-you think so?" He sniffled.  
Sonic simply nodded, giving Knuckles that soft smile that only he was allowed to see.  
Knuckles managed to crack a smile. "T-thanks, Sonic."  
Sonic nodded, looking proud that he was able to quell Knuckles' fears. "A boyfriend's gotta do what a boyfriend's gotta do, heh."  
Knuckles nuzzled him. "You're the best boyfriend ever," he mumbled, suddenly feeling sleepy again.  
Sonic shrugged. "I dunno. The one in front of me seems pretty nice too," he said, nuzzling Knuckles back.  
"Huh? Where?" Knuckles glanced around, though immediately regretted doing so as his head spun. "Ungh..."  
Sonic chuckled. "Right _here_." He kissed Knuckles for emphasis.  
"O-oh." Knuckles blushed as he caught on.  
Sonic laughed a little. "Just look at me!" He blushed and grinned sheepishly. "I don't think I've ever been so mushy in my whole life!"  
Knuckles giggled softly. "That makes me feel special."  
"Good, it should!" Sonic exclaimed, lightly poking Knuckles' nose. "Wouldn't do it for _anyone_ else."  
Knuckles blushed again, giggling even more. He was starting to feel much more cheerful now.

Then he yawned. His exhaustion was finally catching back up to him.  
"Tired?" Sonic asked. He laid down, holding his arms out to Knuckles. "C'mon, I'll help ya get back to sleep."  
Knuckles smiled. He wrapped his arms around Sonic and snuggled into him.  
Sonic snuggled back, hoping that his fur could warm Knuckles well enough. "How do ya feel?"  
"A little better," Knuckles replied. He nuzzled Sonic. "I love you."  
Sonic blushed, embarrassed but chuckling regardless. "Yeah yeah. I love you too."  
Knuckles kissed his cheek. "I love you more."  
Sonic raised a brow, slightly amused. "Oh yeah?"  
"Mmhmm!" Knuckles kissed him again. He wasn't sure why he was acting this way, but he gave into his emotions anyway.  
Sonic's ears perked, the blue hedgehog nearly squeaking at the surprise kiss. He gazed at Knuckles, confused; usually Sonic was the one giving the kisses. Was this a side effect of the concussion?  
"I really really love you!" Knuckles said with a grin, kissing Sonic again. And again. And again...  
Sonic's whole face turned red. Every time he tried to get a word in, Knuckles would dive in for another kiss. His pride was completely embarrassed at the situation and wanted none of it, but...

 _Gosh_ , it felt nice.

_...No, no, bad Sonic!_

Sonic turned his head away and mustered up his strength, pushing Knuckles away slightly; just enough to keep him out of kissing range. "K-Knuckles!"  
He paused, taking a few breaths, then steadily glanced back at his boyfriend.

Dangit, he was cute.

"...Ugh, nevermind. C'mere."  
He pulled Knuckles back, locking him in a passionate kiss.  
Knuckles' heart fluttered. He pulled Sonic even closer to him in a hug, letting out a muffled giggle.  
Sonic hugged him back, greedily basking in the warmth of Knuckles' fur.

Maybe this whole 'recovery' thing wouldn't be so bad, especially if he had _this_ to look forward to for the rest of the week.


	22. Into the Wilderness (and Out of the Closet) (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About a week after the events of the episode "Into the Wilderness", Knuckles asks Sonic about something that's been on his mind lately.

Sonic stuck his tongue out to the side as he waggled the joystick on his controller back and forth. He'd just gotten a new fighting game, so he was determined to teach himself all the moves. It was always fun showing Knuckles how to play since the echidna was generally pretty clueless; he'd catch on quickly though.  
 _Wonder what he's up to,_ Sonic thought, a little curious as to if he'd see Knuckles today or not.

Not too much later, Knuckles himself suddenly poked his head into the doorway.  
"Hey, um...am I interrupting anything?"  
"Hm?"  
Sonic paused the game, then glanced over. "Nah, not really. What's up, Knux?" he asked.  
"Can...can I talk to you about something?" Knuckles asked. He seemed slightly nervous.  
Sonic raised a brow, then shrugged. "Uh, sure, I guess."

He set his controller down, shifting positions so he was facing Knuckles, showing that he was giving the echidna his undivided attention.  
Knuckles came inside and sat down opposite of Sonic.  
"W-well, um..." He hesitated. "So...you remember last week when I got all freaked out and kinda...jumped into your arms?" He blushed in embarrassment at the memory.  
Sonic stared up at the ceiling, summoning the memory, then nodded his head. "Yeah, what about it?"  
The experience had actually been strange for him. When the cup exploded in his hand, he'd found it odd that Knuckles jumped _towards_ it and into his arms, though he never said anything.  
"Well...I've been wondering," Knuckles replied. "How come you didn't just drop me or something?"  
He laughed nervously. "I-I know it's a dumb thing to ask about, but I was just kinda surprised, ya know?"  
Sonic's eyes widened slightly, surprised at the question. "Uhh, why do ya ask?" he questioned. "Just curious...?"  
"Yeah, just curious," Knuckles replied. "Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."  
Sonic was quiet for a moment, debating on how to respond, then sheepishly scratched his cheek. "Well, er... I dunno," he admitted. "I guess it just... didn't bother me?" He smiled weakly. "You _were_ kinda warm and stuff though."  
Knuckles blushed. "I-I was?"  
Sonic nodded, though blushing mildly and averting his gaze; this was _not_ something he expected he'd talk about today.  
"So...it didn't bother you?" Knuckles lifted a brow. "I'd figured you'd be annoyed about it."  
"What? Nah," Sonic said, waving a hand dismissively. "S'hard to annoy me when it comes to you, bud."  
"R-really?" Knuckles replied, blushing once more.  
Sonic blushed just as much as he realized what he said. "U-uhh, yeah!" He grinned shyly and put a hand behind his head. "I mean, we're really good friends an' all, aren't we? Ehehe…”  
"R-right!" Knuckles averted his gaze and laughed nervously. He suppressed a disappointed sigh.  
Sonic frowned, then glanced back at him. "Why _did_ you jump into my arms anyway?" he asked.  
"O-oh, uh...I-I dunno," Knuckles stammered. He was blushing even more now, and he wished he could make it stop.  
Sonic raised a brow disbelievingly, seeing Knuckles' nervousness. "You don't, huh?"  
"N-nope!" Knuckles tried to appear more confident, but failed. "I-it was just...a-a thing I did, ya know? Ehehehe..."  
"Knux..." Sonic said. "Y'know you can tell me anything, right?"  
Knuckles was silent for a moment. "B-but...what if it's something that could make you not want to be friends anymore?"  
Sonic stared at Knuckles, confused, then laughed. "What would you _possibly_ have to say that'd break up our friendship?" He grinned. "We should be able to tell each other everything, right?"  
 _Then what's your excuse?_ he inwardly heckled himself, though not allowing it to show on his face.  
Knuckles hesitated. His heart was pounding.  
 _Come on Knuckles, don't chicken out now..._  
He took a few deep breaths. "W-well, um...Ikindasortamaybehaveacrushonyou," he blurted. He buried his face in his hands in embarrassment and whimpered, waiting for the inevitable rejection he'd surely get.

Sonic's heart practically stopped, his ears twitching sporadically at Knuckles' words. _Did he just...?_  
He crawled closer to Knuckles, then reached up, pulling the echidna's hands away from his face. "Wait, say that again," he told him, wanting to be sure.  
Knuckles gulped, avoiding Sonic's gaze. "I-I...I like you. I mean, like _like_ you." He was shaking terribly, afraid of what Sonic would say.  
Sonic's entire muzzle went red. "You..."  
He swallowed nervously, feeling his heart pounding. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I-I was scared to," Knuckles admitted. "I mean, how could _you_ ever like _me_?"  
He sighed. "C-can we still be friends?" he asked hopefully.  
Sonic frowned, sad that Knuckles would talk like that.  
He released Knuckles' hands, moving his grip to his friend's shoulders.  
"If you put a 'boy' in front of that 'friend', it's a deal," he said softly.  
"H-huh?" Knuckles blushed at the close contact. "W-what do you mean?"  
"You heard me," Sonic replied, though his voice a bit shaky. "I...I want to be your boyfriend."  
Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise. "Y-you...you do?"  
Sonic nodded in reply, giving him a sheepish grin.  
Suddenly, Knuckles' arms were around him in a bear hug.  
" _Yeeeee!_ I'm so happy!" he exclaimed, nuzzling Sonic affectionately.  
Sonic chuckled, blushing at the sudden treatment he was getting.  
"Hehe, careful, Knux! If you get any happier, you're gonna crush me!" he said, though jokingly.

Knuckles giggled. He pulled away from the hug, but placed his hands on Sonic's shoulders.  
"So, uh...what do boyfriends do exactly?" he asked.  
Sonic shrugged. "I dunno," he admitted. "This?"  
He leaned up, placing a quick kiss on Knuckles' cheek.  
Knuckles blushed and smiled. "Y-yeah, kisses are good!"  
Sonic smiled too, then tilted his head slightly, as if tempting Knuckles to give him a cheek kiss back.  
Knuckles nervously took a deep breath, then kissed Sonic--on the lips.  
Sonic stiffened, his ears perking and turning red. He expected a kiss on the _cheek_ , but this...

...this was actually really nice.

"Mm..."  
Sonic's eyelids fell slightly as he slowly pulled Knuckles closer, kissing him back.  
Knuckles internally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt like he had butterflies swarming around in his stomach as he and his new boyfriend shared their first kiss.  
Sonic felt butterflies too. He'd never had someone he could really kiss and didn't quite see the appeal of it at first, but this was an amazing experience that made him quickly take all of it back.

After a while, Knuckles had to pull away to catch his breath.  
"That...wow," was all he could say.  
Sonic nodded, though trying to hide his blush. "Y-yeah, wow." He was embarrassed at how flustered he was.  
"S-so...now what do we do?" Knuckles asked. "I've never dated anyone before, so I don't know how it works," he admitted sheepishly.  
"Me neither," Sonic said. He thought for a moment, then smirked and sat on Knuckles' lap.  
"Maybe you could hold me this time?" he suggested.  
Knuckles grinned. "Sounds good to me!"  
Sonic chuckled, 'hanging' onto Knuckles similar to how Knuckles hung onto him when the situation was reversed.  
Knuckles blushed, giggling softly.  
"Oooh, wanna go to Meh Burger in a bit? We...we could make it a date, if you want."  
"Hehe, alright," Sonic replied. He then leaned against Knuckles' chest, letting out a small noise to show that he was content.  
"It's a date."


	23. In Memory of the Living (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt is at the end again. Enjoy!

Team Sonic honestly never took Eggman seriously. Although the evil doctor had _some_ moments where he was at least a threat, the guy was a joke at all other times, with the team usually going home without so much as a scratch.

Maybe they should've been more careful about their battles with him though. Especially on _that_ day.

It was the usual. Eggman had one of his big robots fighting them, as usual. Tails was figuring out the robots' weaknesses, as usual. Sonic, Knuckles, and Sticks were trying to fight the robot while they waited for Tails' evaluation, again, as usual.  
Upon hearing that the robot was weak from the inside, Knuckles pulled the robot's head off and Sonic jumped inside. The others promptly got to a safe distance, as Sonic possibly flying out of the robot and smashing into someone was a concern.  
Then, the unexpected happened; or, at least, unexpected for the team. The robot exploded in a fiery vengeance, causing debris and metallic parts to fly everywhere, breaking trees and falling to the ground in a heap.  
When they went to explore the wreckage, they found nothing; not even a body.  
At first, the group wondered if maybe Sonic had flee'd the wreckage at the last minute or went flying off, but days passed.

Then weeks passed.

Sonic didn't return. Search parties were sent, but no one could find him.

Eventually, he was declared dead, and a memorial service was held, with all of Sonic's friends agreeing to make a small speech in honor of him. Sticks managed to keep herself together through hers, while Tails started to sob as soon as he was done. Amy couldn't even finish hers, arguably being the most emotional of the group and unable to take it.  
Then, it was Knuckles' turn.

Knuckles was probably the most devastated out of all of them. He'd been in denial the entire time, trying his hardest to believe that Sonic had survived somehow. Now, he was faced with the crushing reality of the situation.  
As he gave his speech, he was trying his best to remain strong. But pretty soon, any emotional strength he had left had vanished.

"H-he was my best f-friend...m-maybe even more than th-that..."  
He fell to his knees and slammed a fist onto the ground.  
"It's not fair!" he cried out. "I-I never even got to tell him th-that I..." He was sobbing hysterically at this point. "...th-that I l-l-loved him!"  
He couldn't bring himself to say anything more as he was reduced to a crying mess, sprawled out on the ground.  
Amy, Tails, and Sticks rushed to his side, attempting to comfort Knuckles as best as they could, though knowing that no one would be able to really help him now.

But then, suddenly, a painfully-familiar voice rang out from being the crowd of people.  
"...Do you mean that?"  
The crowd turned, seeing Sonic standing there, looking lost and confused, as if he'd just rushed into the scene.  
"S-Sonic?" Knuckles wiped at the tears on his face, wondering if he was going insane and imagining Sonic there.  
The blue hedgehog nodded, then looked around with a raised brow.  
"What's goin' on...? Did I miss something?" he asked, seeing how shocked everyone was at his presence.

Suddenly, Knuckles rushed towards Sonic, throwing his arms around him and hugging him tightly.  
"W-we all th-thought you were d-dead!" He began to sob again, but this time in joy and relief.  
" _D-dead?_ " Sonic uttered, stunned at Knuckles words.  
Sticks, Amy, and Tails were quick to join on the hug, undeniably happy to see Sonic again.

The crowd slowly dissipated, now knowing that Sonic was very much alive. As they were gone completely, the blue hedgehog spoke up.  
"I-I ended up flyin' off into the jungle after the explosion. I was a total mess, so I dunked my head in the river, but..." He blushed, clearly embarrassed. "I ended up fallin' in. Before I knew it, I'd blacked out. Even when I finally came to, I had no clue where I was."  
He sighed, looking ashamed that he'd made everyone worry so much. "Sorry. Was I really gone _that_ long?"  
Everyone nodded.  
"I-I missed you so much," Knuckles said, sniffling.  
Sonic flushed somewhat, flattered that Knuckles would get so emotional over the matter. "I missed you too, Knux." He turned to the rest of the group. "I missed all of you."

The five got to talking about what Sonic had missed in his absence, then began to head for their respective homes. Knuckles, however, had stuck with Sonic as the blue hedgehog made his way back to his shack, not once releasing him from physical contact, whether it was keeping a hand on his shoulder or outright holding his hand. If Sonic noticed, he didn't make mention of it.

"Whoa... it's been too long," Sonic said as he entered his shack. "Surprised this place hasn't started collectin' dust," he joked.  
Now that it was just the two of them, Knuckles felt it was a good time to talk to him.  
"S-so, um...I guess you heard what I said back there?" He flushed in embarrassment.  
Sonic's ear twitched as he recalled the memory. "...Yeah, I did."  
He placed his hands on his hips, gazing up at Knuckles curiously. "You never answered my question; did you actually mean that?" he asked.  
Knuckles nodded. "Y-yeah...I did. Does...does that make things too weird for you?"  
Sonic paused, taking an unusually long time to respond.  
"...When did you start feelin' that way?"  
"O-oh, um..." Knuckles paused to think. "Gosh, I don't even remember. It must've been waaaaaay back."  
Sonic smiled softly, rubbing an arm. "And how much would you say you love me?" he asked.  
Knuckles blushed. "M-more than anything in the world."  
Sonic felt his heart skip a beat at that, his muzzle turning a deep shade of red. _Well, there's my answer..._  
He cleared his throat, then averted his gaze, as if the pattern on the wall was suddenly very interesting. "And you wanna know if that'd make things weird? I mean..."  
He smirked. "I've never really called someone my 'boyfriend' before, so that's gonna take some gettin' used to, but I don't know if I'd say that it'd make things 'weird' exactly."  
"Y-you mean...?" Knuckles' eyes were wide in surprise.  
"Did I stutter?" Sonic asked, his smirk widening. "Or do I need to repeat myself? Y'know, the whole reason I dunked my head in that river in the first place was 'cause I didn't wanna come back to you looking like a mess."  
"R-really?" Knuckles blushed deeply. He could barely believe what he was hearing. Was Sonic saying that he...loved him back?  
Sonic nodded. "Yeah... and when I got lost, _man_ , I got so worried. I wanted to see the others too, of course, but all that time away from you really made me think." He stared back at Knuckles, his grin softening into a small smile. "And I just kinda... figured myself out from there."  
"W-what are you saying?" Knuckles asked. He wanted to be absolutely sure that he wasn't misunderstanding Sonic.  
Sonic sighed, but laughed right afterwards, his cheeks turning red. "You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?"  
He took a breath, prepping himself for the moment, then placed a hand on his chest. "I love you too, Knuckles."

Knuckles was silent for a moment, trying to process what he'd just heard. Then he smiled wide. He threw his arms around Sonic and began kissing him all over his face.  
"Ah!" Sonic's face reddened. "K-Knuckles, hey!" He blushed further, squirming slightly in the echidna's grasp.  
After a few seconds though, he got used to it, grinning wide and wanting to make Knuckles flustered too.  
He tilted his head up to dive it for a cheek kiss, but Knuckles had already switched positions for another kiss.

Their lips made contact by both of them shifting at the same time.

...Oops?

Knuckles' face flushed. He didn't object in the slightest, though. He kissed Sonic's lips, giggling lightly.  
Sonic let out a small sound at the kiss, surprised at Knuckles' willingness. He hesitated, then kissed back; if Knuckles approved, he did too.  
Knuckles sighed in contentment as he continued the kiss. Just earlier today he'd been feeling completely miserable, but now he was having the best day of his entire life.  
Sonic smiled, the slowly pulled away from the kiss. "Eheh, sorry again about disappearing..." He placed a hand on Knuckles' cheek. "The last thing I wanted to do was make you worried."  
"It's okay," Knuckles replied with a smile. "I'm just so happy you're alive!" he added, hugging Sonic again.  
"C'mon, gimme _some_ credit!" Sonic said with a laugh. "I wouldn't die that easy!"  
"Still though..." Knuckles' voice went quiet. "I-I thought I'd lost you. I tried so hard to believe you were still alive, but that got really hard after a while..."  
Sonic frowned, then hugged Knuckles gently. "Heh... I wouldn't leave you like that."  
Knuckles nuzzled him. He didn't really know what else there was to say. Except for one thing:  
"I love you, Sonic."  
Sonic blushed, but smiled at him. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine person A was involved in some sort of disastrous incident and declared dead. Person B tried to convince themself that there was a chance they survived, but couldn’t believe it even for a minute. Eventually a memorial service is held…and at the very end, person A shows up.  
> Bonus points if they weren’t a couple yet and person B confessed to much deeper feelings in their speech than they had ever admitted to before.


	24. Years Later (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this story, we finally revisit our original Sonknux timeline! Goodness, it feels like it's been a while. xD
> 
> As always, hope you enjoy!

"Hey, Knux! Come over here for a sec!" Sonic called out to his boyfriend, his five-year-old daughter sitting comfortably on his lap. It'd be a long time since they found the girl all alone, and though he and Knuckles never found out who she really belonged to, they both had a feeling that they were the 'rightful parents'.

"Ready, Blaze?" he asked in a hushed tone, looking down at the small girl. She whimpered, then nodded her head slightly.  
Knuckles went over to them, followed by their dog Kuru. Kuru had grown up now, but was still an "ankle biter" size.  
"What is it, Sonic?" Knuckles asked with a smile.  
"Mind taking Blaze out into the ocean a bit?" Sonic questioned, standing their daughter up. "I think she might be ready today."  
Blaze smiled weakly, walking over and reaching up to Knuckles for 'fire hugs', as she called them. "Knuck-dad!"  
Knuckles grinned. "Sure! C'mere you!" He picked up Blaze and hugged her.  
Blaze giggled and hugged back, her body heating up with how happy she was to be hugged. Her tail swished back and forth in a wagging motion.  
"You comin' too?" Knuckles asked Sonic.  
"Wha? No way!" Sonic replied with a small laugh. "You know I don't do water." He blushed and smiled sheepishly, embarrassed about the fact.  
"Okay," Knuckles replied.  
He whistled. "Here, Kuru!"  
Kuru ran up to him, wagging his tail. Even though he wasn't a puppy anymore, he was still bursting with energy.  
"Let's get going!" Knuckles said.

Sonic watched quietly as they headed towards the ocean. Blaze got down from Knuckles' grasp, but held his hand tightly, staring warily at the water.  
"You'll be fine," Knuckles assured her. "It's just water."  
Kuru bounded into the water excitedly, and began to swim around.  
"See, Kuru likes it!" Knuckles said, chuckling lightly.  
Blaze nodded uneasily, then slowly walked towards the water. Her Knuck-dad liked the water just fine, so her Sawn-dad was probably just worried about nothing, right?  
Even still, once she got knee-deep, she freaked out and scurried back into Sonic's arms, certainly not wanting to go any deeper.  
Sonic giggled, lightly petting her head. "Hey, don't worry about it. I don't like goin' into there either," he told her reassuringly.  
He gazed back at Knuckles. "Well, at least she takes regular baths now," he said. "It's just the _really_ deep water she can't stand."  
"Yeah, guess so," Knuckles replied.  
He knelt down to be more eye-level with Blaze. "It's okay, the water won't hurt you," he said softly.  
Blaze whimpered, hiding into Sonic's chest.  
Sonic chuckled, then smiled at Knuckles. "By the way, Knux; when we're done here, I've got somethin' to show ya."  
"Oooh, really?" Knuckles was curious now. "What is it?"  
Sonic placed a finger on Knuckles' lips and smirked. "It's a secret."  
Blaze stared at her blue-furred father curiously, wondering what the 'secret' could possibly be.  
"Oooh, can't wait!" Knuckles replied. He loved surprises.

The two finished up their 'trip' to the beach (in reality, it was only a few meters from Sonic's hours), then got up and started to head back.  
Sonic however, had other plans, leading the two through the village. A few people stared, as they always did when the two boyfriends came through down, but Sonic paid them no mind.  
He stopped as he reached a large house, then opened the door and walked inside.  
Blaze tilted her head, confused, then looked up at Knuckles, wondering if maybe he knew what Sonic was up to.  
Knuckles shrugged in response, not sure what was going on either.  
Kuru, on the other hand, excitedly ran inside with them, eager to explore.  
Sonic gestured to the room around him, which was mostly empty aside from a few basic appliances. "What do ya think?"  
Blaze, still confused but wanting to give her father an answer anyway, smiled softly. "Pretty!"  
Sonic grinned, then looked over at Knuckles. "Perfect place to raise our daughter, don't cha think?" he asked. "Well, I mean, I hope it'd be..." He chuckled. " _I_ bought it, after all."  
Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise. "You...this...?"  
"That shack was _way_ too small for the four of us," Sonic reminded him. "So, I saved up, and, well..." He smiled, "welcome home!"  
Knuckles looked all around, taking in the sight of the house.  
"Wow..." His eyes became misty. "I...I don't know what to say!"  
He decided to hug Sonic instead.

Sonic laughed, hugging Knuckles back, then heard Blaze walk closer.  
"What's this?"  
Sonic looked down, quickly escaping Knuckles' grasp as he saw Blaze holding a small box that'd fallen fallen out from his bandana. "A-ah, Blaze, quick, give Daddy the—!"  
Blaze held it out to Knuckles, the box opening to reveal an amazing ring. Sonic blushed red, then snatched the box away, averting his gaze from Knuckles.  
"Oooh! What's that for?" Knuckles tilted his head curiously. "It's so pretty!"  
Sonic's heart was pounding, feelings as though he'd just ruined everything. He sighed, then shut his eyes and held the open box out towards Knuckles, his voice becoming quiet and sheepish.  
"Knuckles, will you marry me?"

Knuckles was silent for a moment. He pinched himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.  
Then, he threw his arms around Sonic.  
"OHMYGOSHYESIWILLMARRYYOU!" he exclaimed, kissing Sonic all over his face.  
"Ah, K-Knuckles!" Sonic flushed at the kiss, dropping the box in surprise; even after their years of being together, Knuckles' sporadic surprises kisses still made him flustered beyond belief.  
Blaze watched, confused at what was happening, but giggling cheerfully at how happy her red-furred father was.  
As Knuckles continued to smother Sonic with affection, Kuru came running back into the room. He'd finished exploring the house. He saw the ring box on the ground and sniffed at it curiously.  
"Kuru, no!" Sonic yelped, managing to grab the box back up despite Knuckles' hold. He blushed further at how protective he was over the little box. "G-geez, I really messed this up," he said sheepishly despite the kisses being placed on his face. "I had a plan and everything."  
"It's okay," Knuckles replied, a huge grin on his face. "I'm just so happy right now!"  
"I can tell!" Sonic exclaimed, grinning back at him. He gave Knuckles a quick kiss, then giggled. "And now there's an _actual_ bed for us!"  
"Awesome!" Knuckles replied. "Can...can you show us around? We gotta get used to our new house, after all!" he added with a wink.  
Sonic nodded. "Of course!"

Their remaining time was spent exploring the household, with Sonic pointing out this-and-that and whatever else he could think of. The house was mostly empty, as Sonic wanted Knuckles and Blaze to add their own little touches, but that didn't mean there was a lot to go over.

Sonic dropped Blaze off in her room and left Kuru in another where he'd already set up the dog's bed, then took Knuckles to the only other room in the house. "And nooow, the bedroom," he said as he walked in. He flopped down on the bed, gleefully enjoying how comfortable it is. "And it's _just_ ours this time; no Blaze, no Kuru." He'd missed the times.  
Knuckles climbed on next to him.  
"Wow, I didn't know a bed could be this comfy!" He sighed in contentment. "Thanks, Sonic. For everything."  
Sonic chuckled, then looked back at the door once more to ensure it was closed. "Hey, no problem."  
He gently took hold of Knuckles' face and kissed his forehead. "Thank _you_ too."  
Knuckles blushed. "F-for what?"  
Sonic laughed, then pulled Knuckles into a hug. "What _don't_ I have to thank you for?" he asked rhetorically. "You're awesome!"  
Knuckles blushed even more. No matter how many times Sonic said things like that, it always left him flustered.  
"Not as awesome as you," he giggled.  
"Not true, shhh…" Sonic smiled and locked Knuckles into a kiss to keep him quiet, his ears flittering happily.  
Knuckles giggled even more, wrapping his arms around Sonic in a hug as they kissed.

The two then relaxed on the bed, staying in each other's embrace until they fell asleep together.


	25. Heart of Glasses (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah, I think it's safe to say that Sonknux has taken over this collection. And our lives. XD
> 
> Prompt is at the end again. Enjoy!

Sonic chuckled as he gripped the joystick in his head, his upper body hanging upside-down on his hammock; extra challenge, he figured.  
He paused, then looked at the time. "Oh, Egghead's scheduled to attack in a little bit. That'll be fun," he muttered, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.  
_Ah well. I'll enjoy this while it lasts._

Suddenly, there was a thud just outside his hut. Followed by a familiar voice groaning.  
Sonic's jerked his head over at the sound. He paused the game, then got up and sped outside.  
"...Knuckles?"  
Knuckles shook his head, his eyes seeming a bit unfocused. "I, uh..." He chuckled sheepishly. "Hi."  
Sonic raised a brow, then helped Knuckles up, noticing that his eyes seemed to have a different tint to them. "What happened to you? You're even clumsier than usual," he said with an amused smirk.  
"A-am I?" Knuckles replied, smiling nervously. "I-it's nothing..." He realized he was squinting and quickly tried to hide it.  
Sonic frowned, crossing his arms. "Knux, y'know you're a bad liar, right?" he asked.  
Knuckles sighed, staring down at the ground. "Yeah, you're right..."  
"Just tell me what's up," Sonic told him. "What, have you been playin' with the Spinning Blades of Death again?" he asked. "I thought Tails took that thing apart..."  
Knuckles hesitated. "My...my contacts expired," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed.  
"You wear contacts?" Sonic asked, not knowing the fact. "Y'never told me..."  
"Oh...I-I guess I didn't..." Knuckles sighed. "I guess I was just too embarrassed to have everyone find out that I can't see very well."  
Sonic shrugged. "It's no big deal to me," he said. He then thought of something. "Hey, wait. Don't you have a pair of glasses or something?"  
"Yeah..." Knuckles replied. "But I don't really like having to wear them. They make me look silly!"  
Sonic tilted his head. "Is that all you're worried about? That you'll look 'silly'?" he asked. "You look sillier bumping into stuff and falling over." He didn't say it, but he was very concerned for Knuckles' safety. The guy could take a beating, but that didn't mean Sonic wanted him constantly injuring himself.  
"I know, but..." Knuckles trailed off, sighing.

However, unknown to both of them, they were being watched.  
"That gives me an idea..." Eggman said thoughtfully, stroking his mustache and grinning evilly. He knew just what he'd do when he attacked today.

Sonic frowned. "You don't really think any of us care if ya have to start wearing glasses, do you?"  
"Well..." Knuckles hesitated. "I guess I thought you guys would laugh at me or something."

Before Sonic could respond, however, the sound of the Eggmobile could be heard nearby.  
Sonic jerked his head over, getting into a ready stance. "Here to lose, Eggface?" he asked in a mocking tone.  
"Oh, but I believe I have an advantage over you this time!" Eggman boasted. "Behold..."  
As he spoke, several robots walked onto the scene. However, they were quite different from his other robots. Instead of the red color that most of his bots were, these were blue--almost the same blue as Sonic. They were all roughly his size as well.  
"Robots, attack!" Eggman commanded.  
"Well, they're a nicer color, I'll give 'em that," Sonic joked before promptly spindashing into one of the robots.  
Knuckles ran over towards the action and began punching the robots.

Unfortunately, due to his bad vision, he found that he was unable to tell the difference between the robots and Sonic. He realized this when his fist came in contact with something that definitely wasn't a robot.

"YEE-OUCH, GEEZ!"  
Sonic backed away from Knuckles and placed a hand on his forehead, where he'd been punched.  
Knuckles quickly realized what had happened.  
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" He rushed over to Sonic, following the sound of his voice. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.  
"Y-yeah, fine, just..." Sonic grunted, staring around at the robots. "go sit this one out, alright? You're in no condition to fight like this and I can handle things myself."  
He quickly sped away from Knuckles, spindashing a few of the robots.  
Knuckles wanted to protest, but he realized Sonic was right. Sighing, he walked away from the battle, his head and shoulders slumping. He sat down some distance away.

After a while, Sonic had trashed all of Eggman's minions, giving a slight roll of the eyes to the doctor. "So, same time tomorrow?" he asked, smirking confidently.  
Eggman growled. "I'll get you next time!" And with that, he flew off.  
Sonic quickly turned his attention to Knuckles, walking over. "You okay, bud?" he asked, trying to ignore the intense stinging sensation in his forehead.  
"Y-yeah." Knuckles sighed sadly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to punch you."  
"I know," Sonic assured. "...Still think you can manage without your glasses?"  
Knuckles was silent for a moment.  
"B-but they look so goofy on me..." he mumbled.  
"No they don't," Sonic argued.  
He placed a hand behind his head, becoming a little sheepish. "I mean, I like it when you wear 'em..."  
Knuckles was surprised. "Y-you do?"  
Sonic shied his head away at Knuckles gaze. "W-well, yeah. I mean, it's not _too_ much of a difference, but... your eyes have this deeper purple color without your contacts and it's... uh..." He grinned weakly. "… _nice_."  
Knuckles blushed lightly. "R-really?"  
Sonic placed his hands behind his head, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the conversation. "Y-yeah, really!"  
"So, u-um..." Knuckles reached into his hammerspace and pulled out his glasses, putting them on. "This...doesn't look silly?"  
Sonic tried to hide his blush. "Y'don't look silly at all, Knux. You're fine."  
Knuckles was also trying to hide a blush. "You...you really think so?"  
Sonic hated repeating himself, as it just made him more flustered. "Yeah, I _really_ think so..."  
Knuckles blushed a little more. "Heh, th-thanks."  
However, he took the glasses off. "They're kinda dirty though," he explained. "I'll need to clean them before I can wear them."  
Then he remembered something. "Oh, right--how's your head?"  
Sonic grinned weakly. "Ah, don't worry about it. It'll heal."  
He placed a hand to the wound to rub it, but quickly retracted it, letting out a sharp hissing noise from the pain.  
Knuckles frowned sadly. "Here, I'll make it all better."  
He gently grabbed Sonic's head and leaned in, intending to give his wound a kiss.

However, his heart nearly stopped when he realized that he'd misaimed.

Sonic's eyes went wide, feeling Knuckles' lips against his own. His heart skipped a beat, and his mind was racing with a thousand thoughts. Why did he do that? Was it on purpose, or just his vision fooling him? Why...  
...why was he enjoying it so much...  
"M-mm..." He tried to pull away, but his body wasn't listening to him anymore, opting to wrap an arm around Knuckles and pull him closer. The other arm went up to gently cup the echidna's cheek, while Sonic's half-lidded emerald eyes were locked on Knuckles' deep purple ones.  
Knuckles' face was flushed in embarrassment. But then he felt Sonic pulling him closer, and became confused.  
_...wait...is he...okay with this?_  
His face flushed even more as it finally sank in that he was kissing Sonic the Hedgehog.  
Sonic didn't know where to go from there, so he just ended up holding the kiss. He knew that his face was probably bright red, but that wasn't his focus at the moment.  
He was much more focused on the adorable red echidna in front of him, who was far too self-conscious about those glasses of his. If Sonic had been fully honest with him, he would've said that the glasses made him looking absolutely _cute_ , but his pride held him back; it simply wasn't his style.  
Knuckles' face had turned even redder than he ever thought possible. He'd always had a bit of a crush on Sonic, but never would he have imagined that he'd get to kiss him like this--and have him be seemingly fine with it. He reached over and pinched himself, wondering if he was dreaming.  
He wasn't.

Sonic pulled away slightly and smirked amusedly. "You're not dreamin', Knux," he confirmed.  
Knuckles' face was still all red. For a moment, he was too stunned to speak. Then he cleared his throat.  
"I-I, um...sorry, I guess I kinda misaimed there." He chuckled sheepishly.  
Sonic's smirk widened. "I noticed."  
He paused, then blushed sheepishly and looked away. "I-if anyone asks, I kissed you first."  
"Huh?" Knuckles tilted his head. "Why?"  
Sonic's blush reddened as he crossed his arms. "W-well, 'cause I've got my pride on the line. I can't have anyone thinking that you had more guts than I did."  
"W-what do you mean?" Knuckles asked. Did he dare to hope...?  
Sonic stared at him with an embarrassed pout. "D-don't make me say it..."  
"S-say what?"  
_There's no way that can be what he means,_ Knuckles thought to himself. _Don't get your hopes up, dude._  
Sonic mentally sighed. "...Gimme a sec."  
He sped off, leaving Knuckles alone for a few minutes, then came back, holding a rose out to the echidna. He shyly scratched his cheek and averted his gaze. "Does this answer your question?"  
Knuckles would've blushed if his face wasn't already red. "I-is...that for me?"  
"Don't see any other good-lookin' echidnas around here," Sonic replied quietly, smiling a little more genuinely.  
Knuckles didn't think he could become any more flustered, but that did it. He hid his face in his hands, making a noise that sounded like a mix between a whimper and a giggle.  
"Y-you think I'm 'good looking'?" he asked softly.  
Sonic chuckled. "'Course I do! Wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."  
Knuckles continued to make his whimper-giggle sound. "S-stop it..." he protested, though he was betrayed by a small smile forming on his face.  
"Hey, you asked," Sonic said with a small grin, putting his hands up in 'defense'.  
Knuckles couldn't take it anymore. "I-I have a crush on you!" he blurted out.  
_Real smooth, dude..._

Sonic's ears perked, the blue hedgehog's blush returning at the sudden confession.  
"H-heh, same from me to you, Knux," he admitted, though he imagined that it was already obvious.  
_That didn't sound nearly as cool as I'd hoped._  
Knuckles' heart skipped a beat. "R-really?"  
Suddenly, he rushed forward and went to hug Sonic. However, due to his bad eyesight, he misaimed slightly and ended up knocking them both over onto the ground, the red echidna landing on top of the blue hedgehog.  
Sonic let out a small yelp, then looked up at Knuckles with an embarrassed smile.  
"Careful, bud. We better get those glasses clean as soon as we can," he suggested.  
Knuckles laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, you're probably right."  
"I'll support you until then."  
Sonic got up with Knuckles, then held a hand out to him. "Just hold onto my hand."  
"O-okay." Knuckles shyly took Sonic's hand, blushing again. "What about your head though?"  
"I'll be fine," Sonic assured. "'Sides, if it hadn't happened, we wouldn't be doing this right now, would we?"  
Knuckles cracked a smile. "Heh, I guess you're right."  
"So that makes it okay, okay?" Sonic asked, gripping Knuckles' hand a little tighter.  
Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand gently. "Okay."

The two then headed off, ready to go wherever they need to. Just as long as they were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this prompt: Imagine Person A wears contact lenses but whenever they expire, settles back down to wearing eyeglasses. Used to seeing Person A with contacts, Person B finds it extremely cute when Person A wears glasses. Person B persuades Person A to ditch the contact lenses, claiming the latter is “cuter” with glasses on and that “their real eye color is prettier than the artificial".


	26. I'll Cover You (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompts shown at the end again. Enjoy!

A soft beeping sound rang through the room as Knuckles began to stir.  
"...Oh! ...e's... aking... up..."  
A voice? It was one that he couldn't recognize.  
"He...? Knu...les..."  
Sonic... that's right, didn't he...?  
"...uckles?"  
He vaguely remembered. An incident in their last fight with Eggman. He'd grabbed Sonic and took the blast for him.  
" _Knux!_ "

Knuckles' eyes slowly opened. He groaned softly.  
"S-Sonic? Wh...where am I?"  
"You're in the hospital," Sonic replied. "Your back's seriously messed up."  
"Wha..." Knuckles tried to sit up, but then yelped in pain. He lay back down and groaned.  
Sonic cringed at his yelp, while a nurse went to his side. "Don't move... you need to heal."  
Sonic frowned, tightening his hands into fists. "W-what did you think you were doin', Knux!?" he asked, raising his voice. "You could've gotten yourself _killed_!"  
"I was just trying to keep _you_ from getting killed," Knuckles replied quietly.  
Sonic grunted softly, his anger turning to sadness. He knew he couldn't be angry with Knuckles forever; he just wanted to protect him.  
"...Sorry," he said, even though it wasn't like him to apologize.  
"Am...am I gonna be okay?" Knuckles asked the nurse worriedly.  
"We're... still running tests," the nurse answered. "But we should have a diagnosis soon enough. Until then, rest easy."

She left the room after that. Sonic mentally sighed, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it up to Knuckles' hospital bed, promptly sitting down on it.  
"...Don't _ever_ do anything dumb like that again, understand?"  
Knuckles turned his gaze away sadly. "I just wanted you to be safe..."  
Sonic hated that; he was trying extremely hard to be angry so Knuckles would take his order to heart, but all it did was make him feel bad.  
"...You dummy..."  
He reached over and lightly grabbed Knuckles' hand. "I bet you'd do it all over again too, wouldn't you..."  
Knuckles nodded. "I never leave a 'hog hangin'," he added, trying to crack a smile through his pain.  
Sonic gripped Knuckles' hand a little tighter. "S-shut up..." he muttered, though all the anger in his voice was gone at his point and it just sounded more pathetic than anything else.  
"...Do you need somethin'?" he suddenly asked. "They're got snacks and drinks not too far away if you want any."  
"Aw, y-you don't have to do that." Knuckles was flattered by Sonic's offer, but he didn't want to make him do anything for him.  
"It's really not that far!" Sonic repeated. "I can be there and back in half a second!"  
"Well..." Knuckles hesitated, but ended up giving in. "I...I guess I'm a little hungry. A-and thirsty."

In an instant, Sonic had sped out of the room. A bit more than half a second later, he came back, offering Knuckles a granola bar and a glass of grape juice. "They didn't have any grape-flavored snacks," he said, almost apologetically.  
"That's okay," Knuckles replied gratefully. He tried to reach over and grab the snacks, but suddenly winced in pain.  
"O-ow...my arms hurt really bad..."  
Sonic saddened, then set the glass of grape juice down on a nearby table. He partially unwrapped the granola bar, then sat on the bed and held it up to Knuckles. "Here..."  
Knuckles blushed lightly, a little embarrassed, but knowing that he didn't have much choice. He bit into the granola bar.  
"Thanks," he said, after swallowing his mouthful.  
"Hey, it's the least I can do, mister life saver," Sonic replied, pulling the wrapper down further as necessary.  
Knuckles smiled despite his pain. As he ate, he wouldn't admit it, but he was actually kind of enjoying this treatment. He wasn't used to seeing this more caring side of Sonic, and it was rather refreshing.

Once Knuckles was done with the granola bar and grape juice, the nurse walked by into the room.  
"Visiting hours are over," she said simply.  
Sonic smiled weakly. "I'm not visiting. I'm staying."  
"Yes, yes, you always say that." The nurse rolled her eyes, but giggled. "Very well."  
She left, leaving Sonic to blush pink. _Did she HAVE to mention that I always stuck around?_  
"How long have I been in here?" Knuckles asked.  
"You were unconscious for a couple days," Sonic replied, sitting back down in his chair.  
" _Days?_ Geez..." Knuckles sighed. "Sorry if I worried you."  
"Bah, I wasn't worried," Sonic said, even though the lie was easy to see.  
Knuckles smirked, clearly not buying it. "Oh yeah?"  
Sonic's ear twitched, catching that Knuckles wasn't convinced. " _Yeah._ S'just Team Sonic protocol and stuff. The others were busy."  
He paused, and his actions betrayed his words as he went to grip Knuckles' hand again. "...I'm glad you're alright."  
Knuckles smiled softly. "I'm glad you're okay too."  
Sonic raised a brow. "What? Worried that you weren't covering me enough and I was gonna singe the tip of a quill or something?" he asked amusedly.  
"I just dunno what I'd do if I haven't gotten to you in time," Knuckles admitted.  
"I'm made of tough stuff. I would've been fine," Sonic said. Another lie, as he knew Knuckles took pain much better than he did; that blast probably would've disintegrated him.  
Knuckles went silent for a while, not sure what else there was to say.  
"Tired?" Sonic then asked.  
"Mm..." Knuckles suddenly realized that his eyes were drooping.  
"Get some sleep. You need it," Sonic told him, releasing the echidna's hand.  
Knuckles wasn't sure why, but he was disappointed when Sonic let go of his hand.  
"O-okay..." he mumbled tiredly.  
Sonic waited for Knuckles to fall asleep, then rested his arms and head down at the side of the bed, falling asleep himself.

Sometime later, Knuckles woke up, groaning as the pain quickly reminded him of where he was.  
"S-Sonic? You awake yet?" he whispered.  
Sonic remained sound asleep for a moment, then twitched his ear, slowly beginning to stir. "Mm?"  
"Oh sorry, did I wake you up?" Knuckles asked softly.  
"S'alright," Sonic slurred, letting out a yawn as he sat up. "What's up...?"  
"Nothin' really," Knuckles replied. "I just woke up."  
"Oh..." Sonic frowned. "Do you want anything?" he asked.  
"Nah, I'm good," Knuckles answered. He didn't want to trouble Sonic if it wasn't necessary.  
"You sure?" Sonic questioned, as if insistent on doing something for him. "Hey, I'm here for _you_ , aren't I? Might as well put me to work."  
Knuckles blushed lightly, once again flattered by Sonic's offer.  
"W-well...do they have any more grape juice?" he asked sheepishly.  
Sonic smirked; he'd always been amused at Knuckles' love of anything grape-related.  
"I'll just bring the jug with me this time."  
He sped off to retrieve it.  
Knuckles smiled. This was probably the nicest Sonic had ever been to him.

A few seconds later, Sonic returned with a jug of grape juice with a glass placed upside down over the cap. He set the jug down on the table, then pulled out a can and showed it to Knuckles.  
"I managed to snag a grape soda for ya." He popped the soda can open, then held it up to Knuckles' mouth, "Figured you deserved to treat yourself a little." He smiled softly.  
"Thanks," Knuckles replied, smiling a little wider.

Sonic let Knuckles drink the can until it was empty, then set it aside. "So... feelin' any better?"  
"Still really sore," Knuckles sighed. "I don't think I'll be movin' anytime soon."  
"I'm afraid you'll have to," a voice rang out from the doorway. It was the nurse, who seemed to be carrying a large jar of something white.  
Sonic's eyes widened, as if he recognized the substance. "N-no way! Not _that_ again!" he said, looking upset.  
The nurse sighed. "It's part of the treatment." She walked over to Knuckles. "I need you to roll over onto your side for me."  
Sonic cringed, practically shaking as he remembered the experience. Knuckles had been unconscious, but that didn't stop the constant cries of pain. Knuckles didn't move as it was, but now he had to, he was awake, and Sonic knew that the substance they needed to put on his back stung. A _lot_...  
"O-okay," Knuckles replied nervously.  
He struggled to roll over, grunting in pain as he did. "N-now what?"  
"Hold still."  
There was hardly any hesitation, the nurse's gloved hand picking up some of the substance and slathering it onto Knuckles' burn.  
Knuckles gasped in pain suddenly, flinching as the substance came in contact with his back.  
Sonic saddened, offering his hand to Knuckles. "Would this help?" he asked. He wouldn't tell Knuckles, but even unconscious, the echidna always seemed calmer during the treatment when holding Sonic's hand.  
"T-thanks." Knuckles gladly accepted Sonic's hand as the pain started to get even worse. He whimpered, his eyes stinging with tears.  
Sonic's ears drooped, his free hand moving to cup Knuckles' cheek and wipe any oncoming tears away. His voice became unusually soft. "Don't worry, big guy. I'm not leavin' ya..."  
Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand. He was in too much pain to speak now, but he was grateful that Sonic was there for him.  
Sonic grimaced somewhat. Knuckles grip was very tight, but he wasn't going to let him go just for that.

Knuckles wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it felt like an eternity for the poor echidna.

Finally, after who knew how long, the nurse took her hand away. "It’s done. You can roll back over now," she said.  
Knuckles winced as he rolled onto his back. He was still holding Sonic's hand.  
Sonic watched as the nurse left, then released Knuckles' hand, gazing at the echidna sadly.  
All of a sudden, he threw his arms around him in a hug. "...Sorry," he murmured, clear remorse in his voice.  
Knuckles was taken completely by surprise. Sonic wasn't usually the hugging type. He gladly accepted the hug though, and buried his muzzle into Sonic's fur.  
"W-will they have to do that again?" he asked.  
"I don't know," Sonic replied. "I... hope not..."  
"Me too. I-it was horrible..." Knuckles whimpered.  
Sonic sat back down on his chair and sighed, staring at the floor. His face was riddled with guilt.  
"Hey, what's wrong buddy?" Knuckles asked worriedly.  
"...I should've been lookin' out for that blast," he mumbled. "If I'd just moved outta the way..."  
"Hey, it's okay," Knuckles assurred him. "I-I'll be fine..." he added, giving Sonic a pained smile.  
Sonic held his hand again and sighed. "But you're not fine _now_ ," he argued.  
Knuckles didn't know what to say. He hated to see Sonic feeling so bad.  
"I'll be okay," he said again, gently squeezing Sonic's hand.  
 _I just hope that's true..._  
Sonic sighed, not believing in his sureness, but dropped the subject anyway.  
"Want some more grape juice?" he asked, grabbing the empty glass on the table.  
"Yeah, that would be nice," Knuckles replied gratefully. He chuckled despite his pain. "What would I do without you, Sonic?"  
Sonic blushed slightly, but wasn't in the mood to make his usual snarky comeback. "I dunno; not have a seriously bad burn on your back and be able to walk?"  
He poured some grape juice into the glass, then held it up to Knuckles' mouth.  
Knuckles happily drank the juice. It and Sonic's kindness were already making him feel a little better.

Once Knuckles was done, Sonic set the glass back down and tried to smile for him.  
Suddenly though, there were voices outside the door.  
"Did you tell him that he needs an operation yet?"  
"I haven't. Why should we have to perform on this guy anyway?"  
"Because he's our patient, that's why!"  
"But he's hardly a citizen of this island! He doesn't even have a home!"  
"Ah--"  
"Besides, he probably wouldn't understand if I told him anyway! He's an idiot! I'm surprised Sonic's actually stuck around this whole time for him; _I_ wouldn't!"  
"Are...are they talking about me?" Knuckles whispered, looking as though he'd been slapped in the face.  
Sonic growled under his breath. "Sit tight, Knuckles. I'll be right back."

He got up, then ran out the door. There was a short silence, before Sonic's shouting could be heard.  
"Don't you _dare_ talk about Knuckles that way ever again! I don't care _how_ dumb you think he is; he's still the nicest guy I know and I'm not gonna listen to you insult him like that!"  
Knuckles blushed at Sonic's words, flattered that his friend would defend him like that. He wondered if Sonic really thought that about him.

After a minute or so, Sonic returned, looking annoyed until he glanced back at his friend.  
"Sorry about that; had to go tell off some trash."  
He huffed and walked back over to his chair, sitting down.  
Knuckles managed a small smile. "T-thanks for standing up for me like that."  
Sonic blushed. "Y-you heard that?"  
"How could I not?" Knuckles chuckled. "You were really yelling at that guy!"  
Sonic's blush darkened. "W-well, yeah. I-I guess I wasn't thinkin'," he admitted. "I was just," He clenched his fists, "so mad..."  
"So...y-you really think I'm a nice guy?" Knuckles asked, blushing as well.  
Sonic raised a brow. "Of course I do," he replied, as if the answer was obvious.  
"T-thanks," Knuckles replied, blushing a little more.  
Then he frowned. "So...who were those people anyway?"  
"Just some of the people who work here," Sonic told him.  
He was quiet for a moment, then remembered their words. "You... need an operation."  
"A-a what?" Knuckles wasn't sure what an "operation" was exactly, but it sounded scary to him.  
"It means surgery," Sonic replied, though quickly realizing that Knuckles probably wouldn't understand that either. "I-it means that they'll have to go into your back and fix whatever's wrong."  
"O-oh." Knuckles was silent for a moment. "Will...will it hurt?"  
"I don't think you'll feel it," Sonic told him. "They usually put you to sleep and give you stuff so you won't suffer any pain."  
He sighed sadly. "But..."  
"B-but what?" Knuckles asked nervously.  
"Stuff like this always has some sorta risk to it; it... might not come out a success." Sonic hated being so blunt about it, but he wanted to be honest.  
"S-so...I might not get better?" Knuckles was starting to feel anxious now.  
"I-I mean, it's possible," Sonic admitted with a small sigh.  
Knuckles turned his gaze away from Sonic, sighing sadly. "I guess then my back would be as messed up as my brain," he muttered.  
Sonic's mouth dropped open, and he quickly glared at the echidna. "Knuckles, don't start," he hissed, not wanting to hear Knuckles talk like that.  
Knuckles was startled by Sonic's tone. He whimpered nervously, closing his eyes to avoid the hedgehog's glare.  
Sonic frowned. "You're not stupid..." he said.  
"I-I'm not?" Knuckles slowly opened his eyes to look at Sonic again.  
"No!" Sonic shouted, looking almost offended. "You're not! I mean, yeah, sure, you're not always on top of stuff, but that doesn't make you an idiot!"  
He clenched his fists again. "I know I joke about it sometimes, but it still burns me up that people go around ragging on the guy _I_ love like that!" He didn't seem to be listening to himself at this point, only focused on getting his rant out.  
Knuckles' face flushed instantly. "W-wh-wha huh?"  
Sonic looked at Knuckles, confused. "What, what's wrong?"  
A moment later, his eyes quickly went wide, his heart nearly stopping as he realized what he said.  
There was a long uneasy silence between the two, until Sonic suddenly dashed out of the room.  
"S-Sonic, wait!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Please, come back..."  
 _He...loves me?_

Minutes passed, but Sonic didn't return. Instead, the doctor came in, gazing over at Knuckles.  
"It's time for your operation," he said simply.  
Knuckles whimpered, beginning to tremble nervously.  
 _Oh Sonic, where are you?_  
He needed his crush with him more than ever.

Knuckles was brought to an operation room, then heavily sedated to ensure that he wouldn't be waking up or squirming from the pain.  
The operation went by, and then hours passed, with the sedation slowly wearing off on the echidna.

Knuckles slowly woke up, groaning as he felt the soreness in his back.  
 _Is it over yet?_ he wondered. He barely even remembered falling asleep.  
A nurse was looking down at him, smiling softly.  
"Oh, good. You're awake," she said. "I'm happy to tell you that your operation went along smoothly!"  
She held her hands up slightly. "Just... try not to do any serious weight-lifting for a few days. You're okay to walk, but you're still healing."  
Knuckles nodded. To tell the truth, he really didn't feel like getting up at all anyway; his back was still killing him.  
"H-hey, um...do you know where Sonic went?"  
"Sonic?" the nurse asked to confirm.  
"Um... well, he came back while you were still out, but he just left those here before running out again."  
She pointed to a few gifts lying on the table. Flowers, sweets, and at _least_ five apology cards.  
"I asked him if he wanted to stay, but he refused," she explained.  
Knuckles blushed when he saw the gifts. "O-oh, okay."  
He sighed. He'd liked having Sonic around while he was recovering. And now that he knew that Sonic liked him, he wanted the hedgehog around even more.  
The nurse bowed. "I'll leave you alone. Call if you need anything."  
She then left the room.

Knuckles sighed again. He hated being alone right now, but he was feeling too sore to go and find Sonic.  
He carefully reached over to the table, grunting a little, and grabbed the flowers. He sniffed them, and couldn't help but crack a smile. They were even his favorite kind of flowers. Sonic knew him so well!  
 _If Sonic doesn't come back, I'll go see him myself when I feel better enough,_ he decided. He just hoped he'd be able to think of something to say when he saw him again.

A couple days went by, but Sonic still didn't come to see Knuckles. He remained at home mostly, too embarrassed to go after him now that he'd admitted his feelings for him. Even if he had intended on telling Knuckles eventually, that was _not_ how he'd wanted it to come out.

The hedgehog sighed, laying back on his hammock. He felt like a jerk for not going back to at least check on Knuckles, but he couldn't muster up the courage to.  
"H-hey," a familiar voice suddenly said. "Can...can I come in?"  
Sonic let out a yelp of surprise, so shocked by the sudden voice that he fell off his hammock. "...ow."  
He rubbed his head, then looked over to the doorway. "K-Knuckles?" he asked, gritting his teeth nervously.  
"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked worriedly.  
"Y-yeah," Sonic replied, blushing slightly as he sat up. He hadn't expected to see Knuckles so soon.  
"...H-hey, look..." His gaze shifted to the wall. "That stuff I said before... can we just forget it happened?" The last thing he wanted to do was lose Knuckles as a friend.  
"But...I-I don't wanna forget," Knuckles replied, blushing as well. "Did...did you really mean it?"  
Sonic stared at him, confused. He didn't want to forget about it?  
"W-well..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "...yeah. Yeah, I meant it."  
Knuckles smiled. He sat down next to Sonic, and then he...hugged him?

Sonic blushed at the contact, but was extremely puzzled by it as well. "K...Knuckles...?"  
"Y-y'know, um..." Knuckles pulled away slightly. "I...I've kinda always had a crush on you," he admitted, blushing heavily.  
"You have?" Sonic asked to confirm. "I mean, I knew you were a little more emotional than me, but..." He was almost speechless.  
Knuckles nodded. "I...I always kept it a secret though, 'cause I didn't think I had a chance with you..."  
Sonic frowned at that, almost glaring like he did before when Knuckles got self-conscious. "Is that a fact...?"  
He grabbed hold of Knuckles' shoulders, then pulled him in and kissed him deeply, making sure that he knew just how much of a 'chance' he had with him.  
Knuckles' face flushed even more. His heart skipped a beat, and his stomach felt like it had butterflies in it. After he had a moment to register what was happening, he kissed back, his eyes slowly closing as he took in the sensation.  
Sonic chuckled despite his own face flushing, then slowly embraced Knuckles, though being careful about his bandaged-up back; he still wanted to be careful so he wouldn't ruin the moment, after all.  
Knuckles returned the embrace. He giggled happily, excited that he was finally experiencing his first kiss.

After a long moment, Sonic pulled away, his half-lidded eyes gazing into Knuckles' as he smiled.  
"Don't have a chance with me, huh? I think you were a little off," he teased.  
Knuckles blushed again. "I...I..."  
He didn't even know what to say. All he could do was smile.  
Sonic leaned against him. "Sorry I didn't visit you. I just turned into a bundle of nerves after I slipped up like that."  
"It's okay," Knuckles assured him. "I, um...thanks for the flowers and stuff, by the way."  
Sonic blushed. "Well, I had to give you _somethin'_ since I couldn't bring myself to come," he explained.  
"You knew what my favorite kind of flowers were!" Knuckles grinned. "How did you know?"  
"You're my friend; shouldn't I know a lot about you?" Sonic asked with a small grin.  
He averted his gaze slightly, becoming a bit sheepish. "Though, heh... I-I guess that'd be 'boyfriend' now, wouldn't it?"  
Knuckles giggled. "I like the sound of that."

Sonic nuzzled him softly. "How do you say 'I love you' in your language then?" he asked.  
Knuckles blushed. He cleared his throat, then pronounced the phrase carefully and clearly.  
Sonic's ears twitched back and forth, listening closely to the accent and pronunciation of the words. He smiled nervously, then took a deep breath and imitated it, saying it right back to Knuckles.  
Knuckles giggled, nodding excitedly. "Perfect!"  
Sonic grinned proudly, glad that he got it right on his first try, then became a little mischievous, starting to repeat it over and over, hoping to get Knuckles a little flustered.  
It worked. Knuckles blushed heavily, still giggling.  
Sonic laughed playfully, then gave him another kiss.

"Thanks for saving me..." he whispered softly, touching their foreheads. He couldn't be more grateful at that moment; his confession might not've happened otherwise.  
"No prob," Knuckles replied. He touched their noses together, smiling playfully. "Like I said, I never leave a 'hog hangin'. Especially my boyfriend."  
The word "boyfriend" felt a little weird to say, since he wasn't used to it, but he quite liked it.  
Sonic blushed slightly, then chuckled. "Never leave a 'hog hangin', huh?"  
He sat down on Knuckles' lap, then leaned back against him. "So if I asked ya if we could stay like this for the rest of the day, you wouldn't be able to say 'no'?" he asked with a smirk.  
Knuckles blushed too, giggling again. "You didn't even need to ask."  
Sonic smiled, placing his hands gently against Knuckles'.

They stayed that way for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by these two prompts:
> 
> "Imagine person B gets hurt badly by someone while protecting person A and person A has to rush them to the hospital and eventually there they admit their feelings for each other."
> 
> and
> 
> "Person A of your OTP is in the hospital after an accident and is injured to some sort of degree where Person A has to stay the night. Person B doesn’t want to leave Person A alone so Person B stays by their side as long as they can, bringing sweets and other gifts to comfort Person A."


	27. Drawn Together (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, prompt is at the end. Enjoy!

Sonic sped along the beach, going about his day as usual. Tails, Amy, and Sticks were busy with their own thing, so he figured he'd visit Knuckles.

As he arrived at the echidna and his weight-lifting equipment (which was basically the only thing he had to call home), he slowed to a walk, though becoming curious as he noticed Knuckles... drawing?  
He walked behind him, then glanced down at the binder he was drawing in; Knuckles seemed to be so invested in his drawing that he didn't notice him.  
"Wow, you're really good," he commented suddenly.  
Knuckles let out a startled yelp, quickly covering his drawing with his hands.  
"O-oh, hi Sonic...I-I didn't realize you were there!" He chuckled nervously. "What's up?"  
"Not much," he replied. "I came to visit you!"  
"O-oh, really?" Knuckles was pleasantly surprised by this; it wasn't often that Sonic came to visit him, instead of the other way around.  
Sonic nodded. "Yup! Figured maybe we could hang out or do something," he said.  
"O-oh, um...I'd really love to," Knuckles began nervously, "but I'm gonna be really busy today. B-but, I'll be free tomorrow, so we can hang out then if you want!"  
Sonic frowned, but understood regardless. "Ah, alright. Guess I'll go do somethin' on my own then..." he muttered, trying to hide his disappointment.  
He held a hand out to Knuckles for a handshake. "Tomorrow then?"  
"Tomorrow!" Knuckles tried to hide a small blush as he shook Sonic's hand.  
_Sorry, Sonic...I just need a little more time._

The next day, Sonic rushed out of his shack and headed back to where he and Knuckles had met up yesterday. He admittedly felt a bit silly, as he hadn't asked Knuckles about a time or place to meet up, so he just decided to head back to Knuckles' equipment and hoped he was there.  
He wasn't, as Sonic quickly realized once he got there, but he _did_ see something that caught his interest.  
Under the equipment was the binder that Sonic had seen yesterday. He grinned, then pulled it out and opened it up, flipping through all the pages to see what Knuckles had drawn.  
_So this is what he does in his spare time,_ he mused.  
Although, while he found all of Knuckles' drawings to be spectacular, he took notice of something almost immediately as he skimmed through the drawings; most of them were all him. _Just_ him.  
While he was flattered, it also confused him. There were very few pictures of the other members of the team, so why would Knuckles draw him specifically, and so often?  
"W-what are you doing?" Knuckles' voice suddenly asked.  
Sonic looked over to see Knuckles' standing nearby, probably having just walked onto the scene.  
"Oh! Hey, Knux! I was waitin' for you, so I figured I'd look through some of your art," he explained.  
Knuckles' face flushed in embarrassment. "Y-you saw all of that?"  
"Yeah, you're really _really_ good!" Sonic exclaimed. "You get my coolness down _perfectly_."  
He chuckled, then tilted his head. "So, is this a 'me' binder?" He knelt down to check if there were any other binders under Knuckles' equipment. "Where are your other drawings of everyone else?"  
Knuckles' face managed to flush even more. "T-there...there aren't any."  
"Huh?" Sonic blinked confusedly, gazing back at Knuckles. "You've got so many pictures of me though; why not them?" he asked.  
"W-well, um..." Knuckles shifted his feet nervously, avoiding Sonic's gaze.  
Sonic noticed his nervousness and set the binder down, walking closer to him. "Heh, am I just that cool?" he asked jokingly.  
Knuckles' face was all red by now. "I-I, um..." He took a deep breath. "I...m-made this for you," he said quickly, shutting his eyes and holding something out to Sonic.

Sonic's mouth gaped, staring at the object in Knuckles' hands: A finely-crafted heart carved out of wood, painted red with paper flowers covering the edges.  
" _This_... is for me?" Sonic asked, wanting to be sure.  
"M-mhmm..." Knuckles confirmed. "S-sorry, I-I know it's stupid, but..."  
"No! No, it's not!" Sonic assured quickly. He reached for the heart, taking it from Knuckles and hesitantly hugging it to his chest.  
"...Why?"  
Knuckles took a few deep breaths. "I... kindasortahaveacrushonyou..."  
He whimpered and hid his face in his hands, waiting for the rejection that was sure to come.  
Sonic's ears perked. "A... crush?" he repeated.  
"W-what, like... 'head over heels' 'like like' and all that stuff?" he asked.  
Knuckles nodded behind his hands, whimpering again.  
_Gah, now he probably just thinks I'm weird..._  
Sonic thought for a moment, then walked up to him.  
" _Knuckles,_ " he said sternly, though with the slightest bit of gentleness in his tone, "put your hands down."  
Knuckles hesitated, then complied, slowly removing his hands from his face. He was shaking nervously.

Suddenly, without warning, Sonic pulled Knuckles down slightly and kissed his cheek.  
Knuckles' face flushed again. He was too stunned to react much on the outside, but on the inside he was freaking out (in a happy way).  
_Ohmygoshhe'sactuallykissingme..._

Sonic pulled away, then simply smiled at him, his cheeks flushed pink.  
"S-so, um...d-do you like it?" Knuckles asked softly, referring to the heart craft in Sonic's hand.  
Sonic gazed at the heart, then back at Knuckles. "Of course I do," he replied, straight-faced.  
He pulled Knuckles closer again and gave him a smirk. "I'd rather have the real deal though."  
He kissed him softly, right on the lips.  
Knuckles blushed heavily, his heart doing flip-flops in his chest. He kissed back, his eyes slowly closing. He giggled, unable to contain his joy.  
Sonic held the kiss, amused at Knuckles' excitement. Honestly, he'd always had a feeling he had a crush on the echidna, but the confession he just received and the way his heart fluttered when it was given to him just solidified how true it was. Now, he was positive.  
Knuckles wrapped his arms around Sonic in a hug as they continued to kiss. He never wanted this moment to end.  
Sonic nearly squeaked at the sudden hug, surprised at how warm Knuckles was. "M-mm..."  
He held the crafted heart to his chest with one hand, keeping the other wrapped firmly around Knuckles.  
Eventually, Knuckles needed to take a breath. He reluctantly pulled away, panting, but smiling softly.  
Sonic chuckled, needing a breath as well, then playfully placed a finger on Knuckles' chest.  
"Property of Sonic," he said with a smirk.  
Knuckles blushed, giggling lightly. "S-so, does this mean we're...you know?"  
"Don't see why it wouldn't," Sonic answered with an amused grin.  
Knuckles hugged Sonic again. "This is the best day ever!"  
"Oh yeah?" Sonic asked. "So would it be too much for you if I asked you for a date?"  
"Y-you mean it?" Knuckles asked.  
"Mhm," Sonic said with a firm nod, promptly winking at him.  
"Oh my gosh, yes!" Knuckles replied excitedly, picking up Sonic and twirling him around.  
Sonic laughed. "Alright, alright, we'll go!"  
He patted Knuckles' head. "Just put me down first, big guy."  
Knuckles complied, a big goofy grin on his face. He held out a hand.  
"Shall we?" he giggled.  
"We shall," Sonic answered, giggling back as he held Knuckles' hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess you could say that Knuckles gave Sonic his heart. ;) *ducks thrown pitchfork*
> 
> Inspired by this prompt: "Imagine Person A is secretly good at drawing, and sketches Person B without the latter knowing. It’s up to you whether Person B will find out or not."


	28. A Crushed Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, more Sonknux. XD
> 
> You may or may not notice some parallels to a certain Eggbarker story. ;)

Knuckles sat quietly on the floor of Sonic's shack, waiting for the blue hedgehog to return from his most recent date with Amy. They had their usual video game sessions on these days, and it was always cute to the echidna to see Sonic gush about how well his date went, even if it hurt a little for... reasons.

Today would be different.

Usually, Knuckles would hear the sound of Sonic speeding by, but no such sound came. Sonic just walked in, seeming to have walked the whole way there.  
If he noticed Knuckles' presence, he didn't show it, opting to move over to his hammock and lay down, letting out a soft sigh.  
"Everything okay, buddy?" Knuckles asked worriedly.  
Sonic let out a soft huff, rolling over to his side so his back was facing Knuckles. He didn't exactly want to talk, but at the same time, he did.  
"I'll take that as a no..."  
Knuckles stood up and went over to Sonic's hammock. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"  
Sonic was silent for a moment, then shook his head, getting up and moving over to his controller. "I-it's nothin', bud. Let's just focus on our game, alright?"  
"You sure?" Knuckles wasn't convinced.  
Sonic went quiet again, taking a long paused before sighing. "It didn't go well, Knux."  
"Oh no, what happened?" Knuckles gasped.  
"We broke up," Sonic said, trying to hide any pain in his voice as he hoped that Knuckles would just drop the subject.  
"Oh, Sonic..."

No matter how hard Sonic tried to hide it, Knuckles could tell that he was hurting. And he hated seeing his friend so sad. Without really thinking, he gently wrapped his arms around Sonic and held him close, hoping that maybe a hug would help.  
Sonic flushed slightly at the hug, mostly from the surprise of it. "K-Knux..."  
He stared up at his friend in surprise, then shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's alright..."  
"Sonic..." Knuckles sighed. "I can tell that you're sad. And that's okay, everyone is sad sometimes. You don't need to hide it."  
Sonic huffed. "It was just goin' so well, y'know?"  
"Yeah, I could tell..." Knuckles replied. He hesitated a moment. "Do...do you wanna talk about it?"  
Sonic shrugged. "I dunno..." He gazed up at the ceiling. "Just feels like I messed up or somethin' because it was going so well at first." He had to admit; it was actually pretty easy to vent to Knuckles.  
"I'm sure it wasn't your fault," Knuckles assured him.  
"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't," Sonic muttered. "Guess it doesn't really matter now, huh?"  
He leaned against Knuckles, sheepishly rubbing an arm. "Though…honestly, dunno what I was really expecting. I mean, a lot of people said we looked good together, but I don't think I was ever sure we'd really 'click', y'know?"  
"Really?" Knuckles seemed a little surprised by this. "I thought you, you know...liked her."  
"I thought I did too," Sonic said. "But that's all it was; I just kinda thought she was pretty and nice and all that stuff." He lowered his head, looking ashamed. "I didn't realize it was just a crush until it was too late."  
Knuckles was saddened by this. Even though he himself had a crush on Sonic, he knew it didn't matter right now. What mattered was that his friend needed comforting right now.  
"I'm sorry things didn't work out for you guys," he sighed. "Are...are you still friends, at least?"  
The last thing Knuckles wanted was for the friendship between two of his friends to be broken.  
"Oh yeah, of course," Sonic assured. "It might be a little awkward for a while, but there's no bad feelings between us. We just didn't work out..."  
Knuckles quietly breathed a sigh of relief. "Well that's good."

"...Ugh." Sonic let out another sigh. "Sorry for unloading this on you. I know you hate when you can't help me, and you don't really have experience with this kinda stuff..."  
"With what kinda stuff?" Knuckles asked, tilting his head.  
Sonic frowned, figuring that the echidna's answer just emphasized his point. "Y'know... all this love and crush stuff," he replied.  
Knuckles blushed, hesitating nervously. "W-what makes you think I don't?"  
Sonic's ears perked. "Well... I mean, you never said anything?" he said. "And I never noticed you bein' attracted to anyone."  
Knuckles sighed. "I guess I wasn't obvious enough..."  
Sonic tilted his head and raised a brow. "What do you mean?"  
"Well, you never noticed, so..." Knuckles turned around, facing away from Sonic and gazing down at the floor. "I guess I'm just not very good at this 'crush' stuff."  
Sonic was still confused. "You've got a crush?" he asked. "On who? Who is it?"  
Knuckles fidgeted nervously. "D-do you think this is really a good time to talk about this? I-I mean, you're just getting over a crush, aren't you?"  
"You can tell me," Sonic told him, looking a bit insulted. "We're friends, aren't we?"  
"W-well, yeah..." Knuckles was getting increasingly nervous. "I-I just don't think this is a good time, y-ya know?"  
He wasn't lying. He did figure that this was the worst possible time to confess his crush; but he also just wasn't feeling ready for this.  
"Knuckles," Sonic said, his face inches away from Knuckles'. "Either you tell me, or..."  
He searched through his mind for an innocent punishment. He had no blackmail on the echidna, though not like he's actually use it anyway, so he was at a loss.  
Finally, an idea came to mind as he smirked at Knuckles.  
"…or I'll kiss you."  
Knuckles' face flushed completely red. "Wh-wha huh?"  
Sonic grinned, seeing Knuckles' nervousness and taking the oppurtunity. "Oh, yeah! I'll kiss you so bad, so tell me who or is or I'm really gonna do it!"  
He pressed his forehead against Knuckles both to increase their closeness and to taunt him. "So will you tell me?"  
Knuckles was shaking now.  
 _No no, this is a bad time! This is a really bad time! How do I get out of this?!_  
He opened his mouth to speak, but only a small whimper came out. He wanted to run out of the shack then and there, but his legs felt frozen in place.  
 _What am I gonna do?!_  
As Sonic remained close to Knuckles, he couldn't help noticed how... nice it was, to be so close to him. He was warm and there was a certain feeling of comfort emanating off of him. He also had to admit: Knuckles' lips were looking pretty kissable right now. He wouldn't exactly mind if he had to kiss the guy for rea--  
 _Whoa, WHOA. Sonic, focus..._  
He mentally shook the thought out of his head; regardless of whether he wanted to or not, the kiss clearly made Knuckles nervous and Sonic still wanted to know who his crush was.  
"C'mon, Knux. Five seconds!" Sonic taunted, his hands moving up to tightly grip the echidna's shoulders.  
"M-meep..." Knuckles was too scared to say anything. His heart was in his throat. He frantically searched his mind for something, anything.  
 _Well...I gotta tell him somehow...and he was gonna do this anyway..._

Suddenly, before he even realized what he was doing, he grabbed Sonic's face and...kissed him right on the lips.  
"Mmm!" Sonic's heart raced at the sudden kiss, definitely not expecting Knuckles to do that. That was his plan, after all, wasn't it? Why would Knuckles--  
 _...oh..._  
Now it made sense to Sonic. Knuckles' crush was on him, and he refused to say anything because he'd just got a bad break-up.  
His ears flopped down, and there was a moment of hesitation before he suddenly kissed back. He'd never kissed anyone before and honestly thought little of it, but now... this was much more than he'd imagined.  
Knuckles was taken completely by surprise when Sonic kissed back. He didn't deny that he enjoyed it, but he was also very confused. He knew that Sonic had meant to kiss him as a joke, but...was this a real kiss? And if so, why? Hadn't Sonic just broken up with his crush?

After a few seconds, Sonic pulled away, staring at Knuckles in silence. He sighed, then embraced him.  
"I'm sorry..." he murmured.  
"H-huh?" Knuckles was even more confused now. "I-I'm the one that should be sorry...th-that was a really stupid thing for me to do..."  
Sonic shook his head. "That's not what I mean..."  
He frowned. "I'm sorry I didn't notice you sooner."  
Knuckles tilted his head. "H-huh? What do you mean?"  
Sonic pulled away slightly. "I shoulda figured out how you felt, but I guess I just never thought you'd like me that way." Now that he knew, he actually felt pretty stupid. Knuckles' crush seemed so obvious when he really thought about it.  
"H-how could I not?" Knuckles smiled sheepishly. "I-I mean, you're awesome, and really fun to hang out with, and my bestest friend ever, and hands--" He slapped a hand over his mouth. His face flushed again.  
Sonic's face flushed even worse. He wasn't used to such sudden compliments like that. "Y-y'mean it?" he asked.  
He trailed his hand along Knuckles' arm, then looked him straight in the eyes, leaning close again. "I want to give us a chance..." he muttered.  
"H-huh?" Knuckles was really stunned now. "Y-you do?"  
Sonic nodded. "How could I not?" he asked, imitating Knuckles' earlier statement. "I mean, you're awesome, really fun to hang out with..." he chuckled, "and you're actually pretty handsome yourself," he admitted despite his blush.  
Knuckles' face flushed once again. "I...I am?"  
Sonic nodded again, a big grin on his face.  
"I-I..." Knuckles didn't even know what to say anymore. He was too flustered for words.  
Sonic chuckled, amused at how flustered Knuckles was. "Is that a 'no'?" he teased.  
"Wha--no! I mean, yes! I mean..." Knuckles shook his head. "...Y-yes."  
Sonic smiled at him, then looked away sheepishly. "Though, let's hold off on any dates until tomorrow, alright?" he asked.  
Knuckles nodded. "C-can we still hang out though?"  
"Of course," Sonic replied, a little surprised he felt the need to ask. He sat down on Knuckles' lap, then leaned back against his chest. "We can chill here as long as you want."  
Knuckles smiled, blushing heavily. "Sounds good to me."

And so they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Afterwards Sonic probably went to Eggman and said something along the lines of, "The news is gonna have a field day..."


	29. Sealed With An Envelope (Sonic x Knuckles)

Sticks leaned over the table, watching Knuckles work hard on his Valentine's Day card for Sonic. The echidna had kept his crush on the hedgehog a secret for far too long, and now, he was finally going to do something about it.  
"Is that the bomb?" Sticks asked, pointing to one of Knuckles' decorations. "Just in case he says 'no'?"  
"What? No!" Knuckles shook his head. "That's just there to make it look pretty."  
"Oh," Sticks said with a frown, giving a skeptical gaze at the card. "...Then what's the point?"  
"I just want this to look nice," Knuckles replied. "Gotta make a good impression, ya know?"  
Sticks nodded, though still hardly understanding. "Are you almost done then? It doesn't count if you don't give it to him today, right?"  
"R-right. I'm almost done." Knuckles was getting increasingly nervous. What if Sonic didn't like it? What if he laughed at him? What if their friendship was ruined because of this? What if...  
Sticks noticed his nervousness and gave him an uncomfortably-strong pat on the back. "Don't be so paranoid!"  
Knuckles let out an "oof!", almost dropping the card. "I-I'm just nervous, that's all."  
"Yeah, I can tell," Sticks said in monotone, crossing her arms and raising a brow. "You're shaking."  
"A-am I?" Knuckles hadn't even realized it. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.  
Sticks waited for Knuckles to finish his card, then handed him an envelope. "Now go!" she chimed, pointing to the door.  
Knuckles carefully slid the card into the envelope, then slowly stood up. He gulped anxiously, then headed out the door.

The echidna found Sonic sitting idly by at the table in his shack, leaning back and looking only slightly less than relaxed.  
"H-hey, Sonic!" Knuckles greeted as casually as he could. "How's it goin'?"  
Sonic turned his head to him. "Oh! Hey, Knux, I--"  
He stopped, his eyes locking with the envelope in Knuckles' hand, which was sealed with a small heart sticker.  
"...Ugh, another one?" he asked, making a slightly disgusted face.  
Knuckles flinched at Sonic's reaction. "I-I, um..."  
Sonic placed his hands behind his head and huffed. "Just put it in the pile," he told him, jabbing a thumb towards the gigantic pile of cards on his desk; it seemed he was pretty popular on Valentine's Day. "I swear, I have enough of these to start a bonfire..."  
"O-oh. Okay..."  
 _I should've known he'd think it was stupid..._  
The echidna suppressed a sigh as he tossed the envelope onto the pile. He quietly left the shack, his head drooping as he felt his heart shatter.  
Sonic raised a brow at Knuckles' sad tone, but let it slide out of his mind, not knowing what could be bothering him anyway.

He continued to examine his tower of cards, not knowing where to start or if he even should, then turned as Tails walked in.  
"Whoa, are those all for you?" the fox asked, pointing at the pile.  
"Yup," Sonic replied. "Geez, I don't think I even know most of these girls."  
Tails frowned, then walked closer, picking up the top envelope; the one that had been most recently laid down. Curiously, he ripped it open and looked inside.  
Sonic rambled on, "I wonder how many of 'em are just store-bought." He chuckled, trying to amuse himself. "That's cheating."  
"This one isn't," Tails pointed out, showing him the card from the envelope he held.  
Sonic took a close look at it. "Huh... it is kinda nice... buuut probably also from some chick I don't know," he argued. "Knuckles brought it in; I guess some girl guilted him into givin' it to me."  
Tails opened the card, reading its contents before his eyes went wide. "U-uhh, not exactly, Sonic..."  
Sonic, noticing Tails' distress, grabbed the card and read it. The handwriting was a little sloppy, but the message was clear, with Knuckles' signature at the bottom. The hedgehog instantly froze up.  
"S-Sonic..." Tails muttered. "What did you tell Knuckles right before he left?"  
Sonic put a hand to his chin, thinking. "Oh, not much. Just..."  
His voice trailed off, and he bit his lip before hopping out of his chair, card in hand.  
"I-I gotta go, buddy! Be back later!"  
He rushed out the door. "Knuckles!"

Knuckles, meanwhile, was sitting by his weight-lifting equipment, his face buried in his hands. He wanted to cry, but he felt too numb to do so. Everything had gone completely wrong, and Sonic hadn't even bothered to read the card. He'd even learned how to write just for this occasion, but now his efforts had gone to waste. He wanted to just curl up and disappear.  
All of a sudden, Sonic sped up behind him.  
"K-Knux..."  
He frowned, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. A feeling of guilt grew inside of him, seeing how distressed Knuckles was.  
"O-oh. Hi, Sonic." Knuckles was surprised that his friend had gone after him, and he wondered why. Hadn't he just rejected his card--and, effectively, his confession?  
"Hi..." Sonic muttered. He paused for a moment, then walked in front of his friend and sighed. "L-look, about the card..."  
"I-I know, it's stupid..." Knuckles mumbled, avoiding Sonic's gaze. "J-just forget about it, okay?"  
"No no, Knuckles!" Sonic said quickly. "You don't understand..."  
"Understand what?" Knuckles asked, confused.  
"I..." Sonic sighed, the guilt getting stronger. "I didn't know it was your card. I thought someone gave you that envelope to give to me..."  
"O-oh." Knuckles blushed nervously. "Y-you didn't read any of that, did you?"  
Now it was Sonic's turn to blush. "...I did..."  
Knuckles swallowed hard. "O-oh. What...what did you think?"  
He was shaking now, his breathing heavy as he braced himself for Sonic's response.  
"I mean..." Sonic became slightly more flustered, staring down at the card in his hand. "I... didn't know you could write like that. Y-y'know, write so..." He struggled to find a word. "...nice."  
"I-I learned how to write...just for that..." Knuckles admitted, his face flushing in embarrassment. "...j-just for you."  
Sonic let out a few stutters of embarrassment, honored that Knuckles would do something like that for him. "I guess I just... didn't see you likin' me that way," he admitted.  
"I know, i-it's probably weird..." Knuckles fidgeted with his hands nervously. "I-I mean, having another guy like you and all...especially me..."  
"No, that's not what I mean!" Sonic told him. "It's nothin' like that, just..."  
He sighed sheepishly, an ear flopping down as he reached into the inside of his bandana.  
"...Here."  
In his hand held out to Knuckles was a card; homemade, but looking very roughly made. The fold was uneven, the decorations were partially falling off, and the text on the front was slightly off-center and jagged.  
"Huh?" Knuckles was surprised. "I-is that...for me?"  
Sonic nodded. "Y-yeah..."  
He hesitated, averting his gaze from the echidna. "I made it for you, but..." He almost groaned at what he knew he was about to admit. "I was... t-too shy to give it to you..."  
Knuckles blushed as he gazed at the card. "You...?"  
He didn't even know what to say. The card might've been very rough-looking, but the fact that Sonic had actually gone through the trouble of making it...for him...he was touched.  
Sonic's face reddened. "I didn't wanna give it to you 'cause you're the arts and crafts guy and... well..." He stared down at the two cards, seeing how clearly different they were. He was utterly embarrassed at his handiwork.  
"B-but...the fact that you made one...I just..." Knuckles sniffled, wiping at his eyes as he started to become emotional. "It...it means so much to me..."  
"Well, of course I did!" Sonic blurted out. "Why wouldn't I?"  
He blushed, then collected his thoughts. "I mean... you mean a lot to me. I--" He stopped there, turning his head away stubbornly. He already gave the guy a card; he was not going to say THAT today too.  
"R-really?" Knuckles blushed. He certainly hadn't expected Sonic to say that.  
"Why wouldn't you?" Sonic asked. "We've been friend for how long now? You've gotta be pretty awesome to stay friend with the numbero uno hedgehog here." He proudly patted his chest.  
Knuckles blushed even more. "W-wow...I..." He was at a loss for words.  
Sonic flushed, then set the cards down and turned away, arms crossed. "D-don't look at me like that..."  
"Like what?" Knuckles was confused.  
"I-I dunno," the hedgehog muttered. "Just that wide-eyed look you get when you're all amazed by stuff..."  
"Why? Does that bother you?" Knuckles asked.  
"N-no!" Sonic retorted. "It's just too..." He turned his gazed to the ground and lowered his voice. "...cute..."  
If Knuckles hadn't been flustered before, he certainly was now. "R-really?"  
"Yes, yes, really!" Sonic said quickly, his face flushing further as his embarrassment grew more intense. He definitely wasn't used to this.  
Knuckles smiled sheepishly. "N-nobody's ever said that to me before..."  
"...Really?" Sonic asked, turning back to him, surprise in his voice. "I mean, I figured you would've gotten a bunch of cards today..."  
Knuckles shook his head, sighing sadly. "Nope...just yours."  
Sonic frowned, going quiet for a moment. "...Well, that means I've got no competition, right?" he asked. A smile slowly grew on his face. "Does that make me your valentine by default?"  
Knuckles looked up. "You...you mean it?"  
Sonic's grin widened. He shrugged, turning around as casually as he could. "Well, if you don't actually want to take me out on a date, then I guess not," he teased.  
"But I do!" Knuckles blurted, jumping to his feet. His face flushed again when he realized what he'd said, and he laughed nervously.  
"Ahah!" Sonic exclaimed, turning back to him. "Good, hehe." He lightly scratched his nose and blushed.  
"S-so...where do you wanna go?" Knuckles asked. "I've never gone on a date before, so I'm not really sure how this goes..."  
Sonic thought for a moment, though still shifting awkwardly. "How 'bout we just start simple?"  
He hesitated, then reached out and grabbed Knuckles' hand. "Me. You. My place. We'll just see what happens from there."  
Knuckles' heart skipped a beat when Sonic grabbed his hand. "S-sure, sounds good to me!"  
"Sounds good to me too then!" Sonic exclaimed. He walked off, taking Knuckles with him. Knuckles, on his first ever date. Needless to say, though he didn't do it often, he couldn't suppress a huge smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt: Person A wants to give a special homemade card to Person B for Valentine’s Day. They go to Person B, only to see a ton of cards on their table, Person B being very popular. They see Person A’s card, but mistakes it for a card that someone gave to Person A to give to Person B, telling them to just ‘toss it onto the pile’ in an uncaring manner. Person A, trying to hide their broken heart, leaves as casually as they can. Person B’s friend soon points out the mistake that Person B made by reading the inside of the card and revealing that it was from Person A. Now it’s up to Person B to find Person A and make things right.


	30. Little Knux (Sonic/Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one was based on a silly little UA (Universe Alteration) I came up with where Knuckles is the shortest of the group instead of the tallest. Hope you enjoy!

Amy's hand steadily drifted over various board games, her other hand covering her eyes.  
"Aaaaand, _this one!_ " she exclaimed, placing her hand down and looking to see what she picked. "We'll play this one!"  
"I'm game!" Tails said, sitting down and helping Amy set up the board game.  
Sticks stared at them skeptically. "How do you know that the evil spirits didn't make you pick that one by controlling your hand?"  
"So you don't want to play?" Amy asked with a small smile, knowing full well that this particular game was one of Sticks' favorites.  
Sticks pouted, then sat down. "Well, the good spirits could've done it too."  
Sonic raised a brow, looking amused, then turned his head over to Knuckles, the smallest of the team. "You up for a game, Knux?"  
"Sure!" Knuckles replied.  
He climbed onto one of the chairs and sat down--only to realize that his head barely reached the table. "Uh, a little help here?"  
Sonic pondered, then pointed to a nearby stack of books. "You could probably sit on those." Though, knowing that Amy wouldn't appreciate such a gesture, he crossed one leg over the other and patted it. "Or you could sit on my lap."  
Knuckles blushed lightly, hoping Sonic wouldn't notice. "O-okay!"  
He went over to Sonic and climbed onto his lap. "Thanks, this is much better!"  
Sonic rolled his eyes slightly, then looked down at the board game. "All right, let's play then!"

The game was decently long, with everyone doing at least averagely well. Sonic had to shift positions every now and then, as Knuckles sitting on his lap like he was wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but he managed.

In the end, Sonic had won the game, making him smirk victoriously. "Yes!"  
Amy crossed her arms. "Aww, man. You usually lose too..."  
Sonic shrugged, then lightly poked the side of Knuckles' head. "I dunno. Good luck charm?"  
Knuckles giggled. "Maybe I should sit on your lap more often!" he said with a wink. He was only partly joking.  
Sonic nodded, then gave Knuckles a fake glare. "Just bring a cushion next time."  
"Okay," Knuckles chuckled. As much as he had enjoyed the close contact with his crush, he did admit that it was somewhat uncomfortable.  
Tails smiled at them, then jerked his head towards his laptop as he heard it going off. He went over to it, then typed a few keys.  
"Eggman's attacking the village!" he said with a gasp.  
Everyone got up on alert, with Sonic rushing out the door before quickly realizing that his team needed to keep up with him. "Come on, let's go!"

As the team began to head out, Knuckles was having a hard time keeping up, due to his shorter legs.  
"G-guys...wait...for me..." he gasped.  
Everyone slowed down, but Sonic was the first to run back to him, being the fastest, of course.  
"Here. Hang on, bud."  
He lifted Knuckles up with one arm, supporting him as best as he could, then ran back out. Knuckles clung to Sonic for dear life, his cheeks turning pink.  
"T-thanks, Sonic."

In just a few minutes (which would've been seconds if Sonic was going on his own), the five arrived at the village, watching Eggman terrorize the town with his Beebots.  
"Hey, Eggface!" Sonic shouted with a mocking tone. "I know dating never worked out for you, but that doesn't mean y'have to take it out on everyone else!"  
"Ah, Sonic, you're just in time!" Eggman greeted with an evil grin. Not wanting to waste any time chit-chatting, he turned to his Beebots.  
"Beebots, attack!" he commanded, pointing towards Sonic and his friends.  
"Pft? These guys?" Sonic scoffed. He set Knuckles down, then curled up into a spindash and charged at some of the Beebots. Sticks threw her boomerang, Amy jumped up and hit them with her hammer, and Tails flew up and distracted them so Sonic could land extra hits.  
Knuckles tried to fight the bots too, but they kept flying too high for him to reach. He tried jumping up in the air, swinging his fist frantically, but to no avail.  
"Gah! Stupid Beebots..." he grunted in frustration.

In almost no time at all, the Beebots were taken care of. Sonic landed back on the ground, grinning at Eggman triumphantly.  
"Better luck next time, Egghead!"  
Eggman growled. "I'll get you next time, Sonic!"  
And with that, he turned the Eggmobile around and flew away from the scene.  
Knuckles sighed sadly.  
Sonic smirked, but the smirk quickly dissipated as he looked back at Knuckles. "Somethin' wrong?" he asked, having not been watching anyone else during the fight.  
"I didn't get to help at all," Knuckles said quietly, his head drooping. "I...I guess I'm just too short."  
Sonic frowned, not knowing what to do. Amy nudged him, whispering quietly, "You're his best friend. _Do something._ "  
Sonic let out a small huff, then walked up to Knuckles and knelt down. "Hey, uh... how 'bout we head home and play some games, huh?"  
"I...I guess we could," Knuckles replied uncertainly. "Not like I'd be able to reach anything, though..."  
Sonic picked Knuckles up, not wanting to hear him talk like that. "We'll just play some video games. Nothin' but sitting down on the floor and not worrying about stuff like that!" He dashed off towards his hut without another word.  
"W-well...okay..." Knuckles was still feeling down, but he wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to hang out with Sonic.

Sonic went into his hut, then set the echidna down and moved over to his game system. He put in Knuckles' favorite fighting game, then offered him a controller.  
Knuckles hesitated for a moment, then took the controller. He peered up at the TV screen. He could see it decently, but it was at a somewhat awkward angle for him.  
"You can see okay?" Sonic asked, wanting to make sure.  
"Kinda," Knuckles replied. "I-it's okay, though..."  
"No, hold on," Sonic said, waving a hand dismissively. He got up, lifting the TV up and moving it off its stand, opting to just let it sit on the floor. It was slightly awkward for _him_ now, but he knew he could manage. "Better?"  
Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, thanks."  
Sonic picked up his controller, then turned on the game system. He tried to focus fully on the game, but knew that it wasn't completely helping his friend.

"...You know, I don't really mind it," he said out of nowhere.  
"Huh? Mind what?" Knuckles asked.  
"Your size," Sonic replied, not looking away from the screen.  
"Y-you don't?" Knuckles was starting to lose his focus on the game.  
"'Course not," Sonic said. "We're friends, right? So it doesn't bother me."  
"O-oh." Knuckles wasn't really sure what to say. "But...I can't keep up with you guys, and I can't reach anything, so I can't help with stuff! It just makes me feel so...useless, ya know?"  
"So what if you're a little short?" Sonic asked. He paused, then let out a small cough. "Uh, no pun intended." He shook his head. "I mean... you're still the strongest guy on our team! I think that's pretty awesome!"  
Knuckles blushed slightly. "B-but...it doesn't matter if I can't even reach what I'm supposed to punch!"  
"Everyone's got their weaknesses," Sonic reminded him. "H-heck, I mean, I can't even swim!" he admitted, blushing slightly.  
He shook off his flustered state. "For all of Egghead's minions who walk on land, you can knock them out no problem!"  
"But...all of them were flying ones today," Knuckles pointed out. "I couldn't do anything besides just standing there and looking stupid..."  
Sonic dropped his controller at that, giving Knuckles a stern glare. "Hey. You're _not_ stupid. You're my friend and you're just as important to the team as everyone else is."  
Knuckles flinched at the glare, but also blushed at Sonic's comment. "Y-you really mean that?"  
"Would I lie?" Sonic asked plainly, picking his controller back up and focusing on the game.  
"N-no, guess not..." Knuckles realized. He stared absent-mindedly at his game controller, his focus long gone.  
Sonic wasn't completely convinced. "You okay now?"  
"I...I guess..." Knuckles was still blushing lightly. Did Sonic really appreciate him?

The two continued playing for a while, until Sonic finally noticed how dark out it was.  
"Oh, uh... hey, Knux, it's gettin' late," he said.  
Knuckles' eyes were already drooping. "O-oh, is it?" he replied with a yawn.  
"You want me to take you back, uh... 'home'?" Sonic asked, though knowing that Knuckles technically didn't have one.  
Knuckles tried to respond, but his sleepiness was getting to him. He slowly leaned against Sonic as his eyelids became heavy.  
Sonic's ears perked in surprise, a light blush coming to his cheeks. "U-uh, Knux?" he asked, placing a hand on the echidna's head.  
Knuckles was already half asleep, not hearing a word Sonic was saying. As he finally drifted off, he mumbled something.  
Sonic leaned closer, not understanding. "What?"  
The sleeping echidna repeated the statement, probably unaware of what he was even saying.  
"I...love you..."  
Sonic reeled back, clutching his chest as he felt his heart leap up in his chest. He wasn't sure how red his face was, but he was glad that no one else was around to see.  
 _Did...did he really say that?_  
He tried to deduce if Knuckles could maybe be talking about anyone else, but there was no one else around.  
 _...I'll ask him about it in the morning._  
He lifted Knuckles into his arms, then laid him down on his hammock and sat down, choosing to just lay down and rest there until morning.

Once morning did come around, Sonic woke up first, but chose to remain in his hut, idly playing games until Knuckles woke up.

Knuckles' eyes fluttered open. He was surprised to find himself lying in Sonic's hammock.  
"Wha...what happened?" he asked sleepily.  
Sonic turned towards him. "You fell asleep on me, so I figured I'd let you stay the night."  
"O-oh." Knuckles blushed sheepishly. "Th-thanks..."  
Sonic glanced back at the TV, remaining silent for a moment.  
"...Can we talk?"  
"U-uh, sure," Knuckles replied, suddenly a bit nervous. "Is..is something wrong?"  
"Oh, no, uh…nothing’s wrong," Sonic assured. "...Did you know you mumble in your sleep?"  
"I-I do?" Knuckles hadn't known this. "Gee, I hope I didn't anything embarrassing..." He chuckled sheepishly.  
 _Yeah, about that..._ Sonic scratched an ear, then looks over at the echidna.  
"Hey, this is probably pretty silly for me to be dwellin' on, and it's probably nothing, but..." He blushed slightly, recalling the memory. "…you fell asleep against me and told me that...you loved me."  
Knuckles' heart nearly stopped. His eyes went wide, his face turning completely red.

Suddenly, he jumped down from the hammock and scrambled frantically, aiming for something, anything, that he could hide himself in.  
However, a blur of blue flashed in front of him, Sonic sitting down and gazing at the echidna. " _Knux..._ "  
Knuckles froze when he saw Sonic in front of him. The poor echidna was shaking terribly, unsure of what to do. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a whimper.  
Sonic's ears flopped down; he didn't like seeing his friend like that. "Knuckles... did you mean it?"  
Knuckles hesitated. His heart was pounding. He was scared to answer, not sure how Sonic would respond. But he realized that he couldn't run away--and he certainly didn't want to lie to Sonic. He took a few deep breaths, then spoke:  
"...y-yes."  
He shut his eyes, fearing Sonic's reaction.  
 _Please don't laugh at me..._

Even though Sonic expected that answer, it still surprised him. Knuckles really loved him.

He blushed sheepishly, his gaze softening. He hesitated, then held his arms out to the echidna.  
Knuckles opened one eye nervously, and saw Sonic's outstretched arms. "Wh-what are you doing...?" he asked in confusion.  
Sonic didn't answer, suddenly pulling Knuckles into a gentle hug. He looked around warily, then chuckled and leaned close, his voice going into a soft whisper.  
 _"Heh, I love you too."_  
Knuckles' eyes went wide. "You...you do?"  
"Would I lie?" Sonic asked, repeating his line from last night.  
Knuckles blushed heavily. A smile slowly crept onto his face. He threw his arms around Sonic, hugging him back. He wanted to say something, but no words came. He could only giggle in both joy and relief.  
Sonic grinned. "You okay now?"  
"Mmhmm!" Knuckles replied happily.  
Sonic nodded, pleased, then suddenly winced. "W-whoa, bud! I'm glad you're happy, but you're gonna crush my quills!"  
"Oh, sorry!" Knuckles loosened his grip a bit. "That better?"  
"Yeah, much!" Sonic told him. "...See, I told ya you were strong, ow!"  
Knuckles chuckled lightly. "Hey, maybe I should fight bad guys by hugging them!" he joked.  
"I'd be runnin' like heck from you if I was a bad guy," Sonic joked.  
Knuckles giggled at this.

"So, um...what do we do now?" he asked.  
Sonic blinked, not sure himself. "Uhh... I dunno."  
He smiled. "This is pretty nice though."  
"It is," Knuckles agreed. He had a huge grin on his face.  
"Let's continue then!"  
Still tired anyway, Sonic lifted Knuckles into his arms, walking over to his hammock and flopping down on it, letting Knuckles rest on his chest.  
Knuckles curled up on top of Sonic, nuzzling him affectionately.  
"Am I a good cuddling size?" he suddenly asked.  
"You're a good everything size," Sonic replied seriously.  
Knuckles blushed. "R-really?"  
"Mhmmmm," Sonic said with a nod.  
"T-thanks, Sonic." Knuckles snuggled into Sonic's fur. "Y-you're kinda warm..." he chuckled softly.  
"Really?" Sonic asked. "Huh, and people always told me how cool I was."  
"I wasn't saying you weren't cool," Knuckles replied, not getting the pun.  
Sonic chuckled, amused at Knuckles' naivety. "Nevermind, heh..."  
He pulled Knuckles closer. "You're pretty warm too."  
"Really?" Knuckles asked.  
Sonic nodded, petting the echidna slightly. Gosh, he was glad that no one else was around; he wouldn't be caught dead being so mushy.  
"Yup. Guess I won't have to worry about gettin' a blanket if you ever start living here."  
Knuckles was taken by surprise. "You'd...you'd be okay with me living here?"  
Sonic blushed slightly. "Well, yeah. I mean, I always sorta..." He cleared his throat, "wondered about you, living the way you were, so..."  
"Yeah...I've never really had a home," Knuckles admitted sadly.  
"That's not true," Sonic told him. He gestured around. "You do now."  
"Y-ya mean it?" Knuckles asked excitedly, though he already knew the answer.  
"'Course I do," Sonic replied.  
Knuckles smiled widely, throwing his arms around Sonic again. "Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou!"  
Sonic raised a brow, puzzled but pleased by Knuckles' excitement. "Hey, it's no problem, Knux! That's what... uh..." He cleared his throat again, mumbling, "...boyfriends are for..."  
Knuckles blushed. "...h-heh, I guess we _are_ boyfriends now, huh?"  
"Y-yeah, guess so," Sonic agreed, sheepishly scratching his nose.  
Knuckles snuggled into Sonic some more, sighing in contentment. "This is already the best day ever," he said softly.  
Sonic, though slightly flustered, wrapped a firm arm around Knuckles. "Guess I'm just that awesome, heh..."  
"Mmhmm..." Knuckles closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Sonic's fur against him.  
Sonic did the same, holding Knuckles close as the two slowly drifted off to sleep.  



	31. The Look (Sonic/Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was based on multiple prompts. As always, hope you enjoy!

Sonic sat quietly at one of the tables in Meh Burger, staring down at his meal with a small frown. It was Valentine's Day, and yet he was alone? A hedgehog as awesome as him, alone?  
He sighed, pushing the tray away slightly. He wasn't in the mood to eat today.

"Hey, Sonic!" Knuckles' voice suddenly greeted.  
Sonic stiffened at the voice, surprised as he jerked his head over at Knuckles. "O-oh, hey, Knux!" he greeted back with a wave.  
He wanted to let out a "how are you" or something along those lines, but just ended up staring down at the table.  
Knuckles frowned, noticing Sonic's bad mood. "Hey, you feelin' okay?"  
Sonic glanced back up at him, pausing before answering. "...Don't you have to get back to your date or something?"  
Knuckles tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? What date?"  
Sonic blinked, surprised for the second time that day. _Knuckles_ didn't have a date? He was easily the most awesome guy on the island besides Sonic himself.  
"You don't have a date for today?" he asked.  
Knuckles shook his head sadly. "Nope. Nobody was interested."  
"Really?"  
Sonic frowned, almost annoyed at the fact that no one asked Knuckles to be their Valentine.  
"Well, uh... y'want my burger maybe?" he asked, gesturing a hand to his meal. "I'm not all that hungry..."  
"You sure?" Knuckles was a bit surprised. Sonic wouldn't usually turn down a Meh Burger!  
 _He must be really upset about something..._ Knuckles realized. Then something clicked in his mind.  
"Hey, do you have a date today?"  
Sonic made a face at the question; had he been figured out that easily? Still, the fact that Knuckles didn't have one either made it easier to say.  
"...Nah, no one asked me either," he admitted.  
Knuckles was shocked. "Seriously? Nobody at all?"  
"Nobody at all," Sonic confirmed.  
Knuckles frowned sadly. He sat down at the table, across from Sonic, so that they were facing each other.  
"S-so, I guess neither of us have dates... maybe we could just hang out together instead?" he suggested.  
Sonic managed a grin at that. "Heh, yeah, I guess."  
His grin widened. "Who needs a date when we've got each other, right?" he asked, though blushing slightly at his own wording.  
Knuckles blushed a little himself, though he tried his best to hide it. "Y-yeah, right!"  
"A-anyway..." Sonic said. He slid his meal tray over to Knuckles. "Here."  
"You sure?" Knuckles asked again.  
"Yeah, I don't mind," Sonic told him. He tried to focus on the tray, but ended up shifting his eyes back to Knuckles.  
 _Ugh, it's not like what I said's a big deal, so why do I feel so weird about it?_  
"Well, okay...t-thanks!"

As Knuckles began to eat the burger, he wondered why he was still blushing.  
 _Geez, I hope I'm not getting sick or something..._

Sonic leaned back in his seat, suddenly feeling awkward. He never felt odd before around Knuckles, but the fact that it was Valentine's Day and no one else was really around besides Dave (who had fallen asleep on the job anyway) just made him anxious for whatever reason.  
Not that he didn't think Knuckles wasn't a worthy valentine or anything, mind you. He thought Knuckles was kind, strong, and he certainly deserved someone to be with today. He just didn't expect it to be _him_ , regardless of whether or not they were actually on a date.  
 _Am I seriously... crushing on Knuckles?_

Knuckles, who had finished his burger, was staring quietly at the empty tray, thinking.  
Now that he thought about it, he'd always felt weird around Sonic. Not a bad kind of weird, just...the kind of weird where it feels like there are a bunch of butterflies flying around in your stomach, even though you're pretty sure you didn't eat any butterflies for lunch. He'd gotten pretty used to it now, but today the feeling was even stronger than usual. What was going on? He honestly wouldn't put it past Dave to accidentally put butterflies in his burger, but somehow the echidna knew that probably wasn't the case.  
 _Hmmm...the butterflies...the blushing...Valentine's Day..._  
Then, it hit him. His cheeks turned pink as he realized something that he should've figured out a long time ago.  
 _...oh...ohhhhhh..._

The two had realized their crushes on each other in almost no time flat. They felt like they shouldn't have been surprised about the fact, but still, it was a weird feeling to finally know about it. Still, they ignored it and treated each other no differently.

Well, almost.

Besides the occasional turning-their-heads-away-to-hide-a-blush, they also stared at each other differently, with lovey dovey eyes; they didn't seem to notice, but their friends sure did.

Amy was the first to point it out once while they were hanging out at Tails' house.  
"So, did something happen to you two on Valentine's Day? You've been acting weird ever since!"  
"H-huh?" Knuckles was a bit startled, blushing as he realized that he'd been staring at Sonic. "W-weird how?"  
Tails giggled. "You keep tossing glances at each other."  
Sonic stiffened, having not noticed. "O-oh, uh..."  
Amy smiled teasingly. "Do you _liiiike_ each other?"  
Knuckles' face flushed. "W-whahuh?"  
"You heard me!" Amy said.  
Sonic blushed just as bad as Knuckles. "D-don't ask stuff like that, Amy! Not cool!"  
She grinned further. "I don't hear you denying it!"  
Sonic huffed. "I don't have to tell you anything! I-I'm out!"  
He quickly sped out of the house, probably heading back to his shack.  
Knuckles stared silently in the direction Sonic had gone. Sonic had been so quick to deny it; did he not like Knuckles back, then? The echidna sighed sadly, now feeling stupid for even hoping that Sonic would ever like him that way.

\--

Hours passed, and Sonic was laying quietly on his hammock. He felt a bit childish that he'd made an outburst like that, but he tried not to think about it. The rain outside was at least doing a little to help calm his nerves.

Knuckles, meanwhile, had been going for a walk, trying to get his mind off things--then the rain started. The poor echidna was now soaked to the bone, with nowhere to go for shelter. The closest place was Sonic's shack, the very place that Knuckles had been trying to avoid. However, it seemed that fate had other ideas for him.

Sonic, hearing footsteps on his porch, jerked his head over.  
"Knuckles!?" he asked, watching water dripping off of the echidna. "Geez, what were you doing out there?"  
"J-j-just w-walk-king..." Knuckles was shivering badly. "C-can I c-come i-in?"  
"Yeah, yeah, come in!"  
Sonic sped up to him, grabbing his hand and bringing him inside. He then rushed over and grabbed all the blankets he could, sitting Knuckles down and draping them over him.  
"T-thanks." Knuckles blushed a little at the kind gesture, flattered that Sonic was fussing over him like this.  
"Are you warm enough?" Sonic asked. Without even waiting for Knuckles to respond, he sped off again. "Let me get you a towel."  
Knuckles chuckled softly, blushing even more. He couldn't deny that he was enjoying the treatment he was getting.  
Sonic came back, then placed the towel over Knuckles' head and dried him off.  
"Thanks, Sonic," Knuckles said with a smile. He hoped Sonic couldn't see that he was still blushing...

Sonic finished drying his friend, then suddenly started shivering. The cold air was seeping into his shack, and he had no door to block it out.  
"You okay?" Knuckles asked in concern.  
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Sonic lied, rubbing his arms.  
Knuckles wasn't convinced. "You cold?"  
"W-wha, no, I--" Sonic blushed slightly.  
Knuckles frowned. "Sit down, next to me," he said sternly, but gently.  
"W-what?" Sonic asked, flustered at the idea. Still, Knuckles seemed firm about it, so he complied, sitting down next the echidna and wrapping himself in the blanket. Even though they'd sat close to each other before, the fact that he'd figured out his crush made it worse.  
Knuckles made sure the blankets covered as much of Sonic as possible (without suffocating him, of course).  
"There, warm now?"  
"Y-yeah," Sonic stammered, leaning against Knuckles for the sake of warmth.  
Knuckles blushed at having Sonic so close to him. "G-good."  
He was silent for a little while.

"H-hey, um..." he hesitated. "...s-so, you know how earlier everyone thought we...l-liked each other...a-and you ran off? Y-you sounded kinda upset...d-did it bother you?"  
"Eh?" Sonic glanced up at Knuckles, wondering why he'd ask such a thing. He blushed, crossing his arms slightly.  
"Well, no... that's just... I mean... I don't know," he muttered. "It wasn't a bad question I guess; just kinda personal."  
Knuckles hesitated once more. "W-well, uh...I-I know it's a weird question, but...i-if I _did_ like you that way...w-would that be weird to you? Just...just wondering, that's all..." He chuckled nervously, trying but failing to hide how tense he was. He wondered if Sonic could hear how loudly his heart was pounding.  
Sonic's ears perked. "Uh... well, I mean..." He averted his gaze slightly, "it definitely wouldn't be weird. I wouldn't mind..." He drew his gaze back to Knuckles. "And if I liked you back? Then what?"   
Knuckles blushed. "I'd be the happiest echidna in the world."  
Sonic blushed as well. "Really?"  
That was when he noticed Knuckles' blush; it took a moment of hesitation, but he figured he'd go for it.  
"Do you... actually like me that way?"  
Knuckles blushed even harder, glancing down nervously. "Y-yeah. I do."  
"...H-heh." Sonic smirked a bit, nudging Knuckles. "I like you too."  
Knuckles looked up, his eyes wide. "Y-you do?"  
Sonic simply nodded, blushing slightly with a small smile.  
Knuckles smiled wide, his eyes sparkling. He wrapped both arms around Sonic and pulled him close, careful not to cause the blankets to fall off of them.  
Sonic chuckled, placing his hands on Knuckles' arms. "I'm kinda surprised though."  
"Huh? Why's that?"  
Sonic blushed sheepishly. "Well, I just figured you'd want someone more... 'your size'. Bulky like you, y'know?"  
Knuckles chuckled. "Nah, I'd want someone shorter and cuter like you." His face flushed in slight embarrassment when he realized what he'd just said. He didn't take it back in the slightest, though.  
"H-huh?" Sonic's face turned red at this. " _Cute?_ "  
Knuckles nodded sheepishly. "Y-yeah. You're the cutest hedgehog I know!"  
The 'cute' hedgehog averted his gaze. "G-geez, Knux..."  
"...d-do you not like being called 'cute'?" Knuckles asked, worried that he offended Sonic somehow.  
Sonic looked back at him, trying to keep his blush down. "I-I mean... only if it's you who's sayin' it."  
"S-so... is it okay that I think you're cute?" Knuckles asked, wanting to make sure.  
"Y-yeah, it's alright," Sonic replied, relaxing against him.  
Knuckles smiled. Still holding Sonic close, he began nuzzling him gently.  
"Happy Valentine's Day...?" he chuckled.  
Sonic laughed. "That was _days_ ago, Knuckles, but sure."  
Knuckles hesitated nervously. Then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes... and planted a tender kiss on Sonic's head, blushing deeply as he did.  
Sonic flushed at this, surprised at the kiss. He hid his face. "K-Knuux, sheesh! I've been a red hedgehog enough for today!"  
Knuckles tilted his head. "Huh? But I thought you were blue!"  
Sonic chuckled. "Nevermind, Knux. And I might as well return the favor."  
He grinned, wanting revenge on Knuckles, standing up and kissing his forehead.  
Knuckles' face turned completely red, but he was grinning. The butterflies were back, but he welcomed their presense. Yes, Knuckles was definitely the happiest echidna in the world right now, just like he'd said not much earlier.  
Sonic sat back down, snuggling against both the blankets and Knuckles. "Mm, looks like it's gonna rain all night. You wanna stay here maybe?" he offered.  
"Ya mean it?"  
Knuckles snuggled back. "Sure, sounds good to me."  
Sonic smiled, finding himself getting a little tired from Knuckles' warmth.  
"Mm... perfect..." He yawned, then fell asleep against the echidna. He looked utterly adorable.  
Knuckles smiled, giggling softly. Carefully, so as not to wake him, he reached behind Sonic's head and gently began to scratch him behind the ears.  
Sonic let out a small noise at the scratching, which eventually turned into a soft purr; good thing he wasn't awake, or he'd be really embarrassed.  
Knuckles grinned even wider when he heard the purring. Sonic was just too cute.

Pretty soon, between the warmth of the blankets and being huddled next to Sonic, and the soothing sound of his boyfriend's purring, Knuckles found himself drifting off to sleep, still smiling.

They stayed like that all night, being comforted by the pitter-patter of rain on Sonic's porch.


	32. Part Cat, Part Dog, Part of You (Sonic x Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a silly/cute idea we had. Hope you enjoy! :3

It was just a usual day for Sonic and Knuckles. They were playing video games, as they always did when they spent time together.

Sonic chuckled to himself. "I dunno why I always pick the cat character. Maybe because I—"  
His voice trailed off, a light blush coming to his cheeks. Maybe Knuckles wasn't listening to him? He hoped so.  
"Hm?" Knuckles looked up. "Because you what?" he asked curiously.  
"Ah, nothin'," Sonic said quickly, though it was clear he just wanted to be away from the subject.  
Knuckles raised a brow in slight confusion, but otherwise said nothing. His focus quickly returned to the game.  
 _Good. He didn't ask._ Sonic mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

A couple of minutes later, Knuckles had beaten Sonic in the current round of their game.  
"Aw yeah!" He grinned victoriously and pumped a fist in the air. Then he realized that his tail had started to wag a little. He blushed sheepishly, mentally commanding his tail to stop and hoping Sonic hadn't noticed.  
Sonic blinked, having barely been paying attention. "Oh, ah... shoot, I lost," he mumbled, so out of it that he didn't care too much.  
Knuckles raised a brow. "Uh... you okay?"  
"Huh?" Sonic blushed slightly. "Y-yeah, why?"  
 _Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask!_  
"You're just kinda... distracted, I guess," Knuckles replied. "...is something wrong?"  
"...Nothing's wrong, nah," Sonic said, gripping is controller a little tighter.  
Knuckles wasn't convinced for even a moment. "You sure?"  
"Yeah, uh, just I accidentally slipped somethin' is all," Sonic admitted, hoping that it'd satisfy Knuckles' curiosity.  
Knuckles just looked confused. "Huh? Slipped what?"  
Sonic waved a hand dismissively. "N-nothing! Nothing at all!"  
Knuckles gave him a deadpan stare. "Sonic, I hate to break it to you, but... well... you're not a very good liar."  
Sonic paused, then sighed. "Yeah. Guess I'm not, huh?"  
He pouted. "You really wanna know?"  
Knuckles nodded.  
Sonic thought for a moment, then smirked, though a bit weakly. "Okay, but you have to tell me something about you too after I tell you!"  
"S-sure, okay," Knuckles replied, a little nervous.  
Sonic took a deep breath, then gazed up at him shyly. "I'm, uh, part cat..."  
Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise. "Whoa, really?"  
Sonic blushed. "Ah, yeah. I never told anyone because, uh..." His blush grew a little redder.  
Knuckles tilted his head. "Because what?" he asked, softening his voice a little.  
Sonic backed away slightly, mumbling something under his breath.  
"Huh? S-sorry, I didn't catch that."  
"...I purr," Sonic mumbled louder. "My mom used to pet me and I'd purr."

Knuckles was silent for a moment. Then he smiled sheepishly. "C-can...can I hear you purr?" he asked quietly, blushing.  
"W-wha?" Sonic blushed redder. "I-it's kinda... soft and not... uh, Sonic-y though."  
"Aw come on, I wanna hear it," Knuckles replied. " _Pleeeeeeease?_ " He was giving Sonic the "puppy dog eyes" now, though he didn't realize he was doing it.  
Sonic stammered at the 'eyes' Knuckles was giving him; now there was no way he could say no.  
"E-erm, well... someone would have to pet me for me to purr," Sonic told him.  
"C-can I... pet you...?" Knuckles asked, blushing shyly. After all, that wasn't something you normally asked someone.  
Sonic became more nervous at the request, but nodded. "I-I guess... just don't tell anyone, got it?"  
Knuckles nodded, understanding. He hesitated a moment, then reached over nervously. He began to gently scratch Sonic's head.  
Instantly, Sonic's ears perked, and he slowly relaxes against Knuckles' touch. It took a second, but a purr managed to rumble out of his throat. He was embarrassed, but too relaxed to pull away.  
Knuckles smiled. He started to giggle softly. He moved his hand down, now scratching closer to Sonic's ears.  
The purring got louder, with Sonic unconsciously rubbing against Knuckles' hand. "M-mmn..."  
Knuckles giggled even more. _Awww, that's so cute!_

Sonic was thankful that it was only Knuckles who was petting him; anyone else would've been too embarrassing.  
But wait... why was that? Tails was his best friend, so...  
He already knew the reason though; he had a crush on Knuckles. The close contact was actually really nice from him.

Knuckles, meanwhile, was enjoying petting Sonic. Even though it was kind of weird to be petting his friend, Sonic's purr was both cute and actually rather soothing to the echidna.  
He was also flattered that Sonic had let him do this in the first place, since he probably wouldn't have let anyone else do it. And of course, he liked having a good excuse to be affectionate towards his crush.

Sonic continued purring until he suddenly remembered something, causing him to grab Knuckles' hand to get him to stop. "So, what's your secret then?" he asked.  
"O-oh, r-right..." Knuckles had almost forgotten!  
"I, um...okay, so here's the thing...I'm actually part dog," he admitted quietly.  
"Huh, really?" Sonic asked. Thinking about it, it actually made a little sense to him.  
"Y-yeah. A-and sometimes, when I get excited or happy about stuff... m-my tail kinda wags... I-I try to make it not do that, but sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it, and then I get all embarrassed and hope nobody saw it..." Knuckles' face had turned pink as he admitted this.  
"You do?"  
Sonic paused, then suddenly got a big devious smirk on his face. "Is that right?"  
"U-uh...yeah?" Sonic's smirk was making Knuckles a little nervous...  
It was payback time.  
Sonic raised his hand, placing it on Knuckles' head and gently petting him, eyeing his tail on occasion to see if it was working.  
Knuckles blushed badly, only able to stammer nervously. He instinctively tried to keep his tail from moving, but it was no use.  
Sonic giggled almost childishly at seeing Knuckles' tail wag. Okay, even _he_ had to admit that it was a pretty cute sight.  
Knuckles gave up trying to control his tail as it showed how much he was enjoying the close contact from Sonic. His cheeks were getting warmer and warmer as he became increasingly flustered.  
Sonic chuckled. "Your face is all red!"  
"I-I guess it matches the rest of me t-then..." Knuckles chuckled sheepishly.  
"Guess so!"  
Sonic was more than amused, but decided to let Knuckles off easy and stopped petting him.  
Still though... he kinda wished he could get pet again; there was no way he'd ask for it though.  
Knuckles' tail finally stopped wagging as soon as the petting had stopped. As embarrassed as he was, part of him kind of wanted Sonic to do it again...

"Guess we're both part-somethin', huh?" Sonic asked with a grin.  
Knuckles smiled softly. "Huh, guess we are."  
"What are the odds?" Sonic laughed a little.  
"I know, right?" Knuckles laughed too.  
"Maybe we were meant to become part-something friends!"  
Knuckles nodded, smiling.  
 _But I kinda wish we could be more than that..._

Unknown to Knuckles, Sonic was thinking the same thing. The blue hedgehog's ear twitched, then he looked outside.  
"Looks like a storm," he said. "Guess ya shouldn't go out there with it like that."  
"Yeah, guess not..." To be honest, Knuckles didn't mind. It just meant that he got to spend more time with Sonic.  
"Don't have a bunch of blankets though," Sonic mused, looking over at his hammock. "Not like there's a lot of places for sleeping."  
"Hmmm..." Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought. He blushed when he realized that there was another way they could do this, but he was too nervous to suggest it...  
Sonic noticed his sudden frazzled state. "Hm? What's up, Knux?"  
"O-oh, it's nothing," Knuckles said quickly. He cleared his throat nervously. "S-so, um... w-where can I sleep?"  
"Hmm... good question," Sonic said. He went over to the blankets, then pulled one up, only to realize that there was just one. "O-oh, uh..."  
"W-what's wrong?" Knuckles asked.  
Sonic shuddered slightly, the coldness of the rain starting to radiate throughout the shack. "There's... only one blanket," he explained.  
"O-oh." Knuckles hesitated. "W-well, m-maybe we could sh-share? I-I mean, u-um..."  
Sonic's ears perked. At first, he stammered a little, but then merely chuckled. "...Sure."  
Knuckles quietly let out the breath he realized he'd been holding. At least Sonic seemed okay with the idea.  
"So, erm... do we just both get on the hammock then?" Sonic asked.  
"I-is that okay?" Knuckles asked in reply.  
Sonic nodded, trying to remain 'cool'. "Y-yeah, why wouldn't it be?"  
"O-oh, j-just making sure, ya know?" Knuckles replied, chuckling awkwardly.  
Sonic chuckled. "I-it's alright."  
He hesitated, then climbed onto the hammock. Knuckles climbed on next to him, hoping that his friend couldn't see how badly he was blushing. Sonic turned away from him for the same reason, offering him the other side of the blanket.  
"Uh, here..."  
"T-thanks." Knuckles pulled the warm blanket over himself. He was tempted to snuggle up to Sonic, but he restrained himself, figuring that Sonic wouldn't like that very much.

Sonic was the first to fall asleep. Only a few minutes after he had, he rolled over suddenly, barreling right into Knuckles' chest.  
Knuckles' face instantly became flushed. If he wasn't currently lying on his back, his tail would've started wagging again. He was embarrassed, but... it was actually pretty nice.  
He hesitated a moment. Then slowly, so as not to wake Sonic, he moved a hand over to Sonic's head. He began to lightly scratch behind Sonic's ears, wondering if he could get him to purr again.  
Sonic twitched a little at Knuckles' touch, but relaxed almost immediately after. His voice murmured out, but came across as slightly softer than usual.  
"Mama...?"  
Knuckles stopped suddenly. _Did he just...?_  
It was cute, he had to admit, but it also made him sad; even though he didn't know what exactly had happened to Sonic's mother, he knew that she wasn't around for him anymore. Was that part of why Sonic didn't usually like being pet--because it made him think of his mother?  
Sonic buried his face in Knuckles' fur, making a small purring sound, though it was mixed with a whine.  
"Feeling... weird... mm..."  
Knuckles was flustered by the close contact, but was also growing a bit concerned. _Maybe I shouldn't have done that..._  
"...around... friend... dunno what to... do..."  
Sonic gripped a patch of Knuckles' fur, curling up against him further. His voice grew quiet, but still audible enough for Knuckles to hear.  
"D-don't...don't tell Knuckles... that I... like 'im like that, okay?"  
Knuckles' heart seemed to stop for a moment. Had...had he heard that right? Did Sonic just...?  
"Don't want 'im to... think I'm weird," Sonic said softly.  
 _Aw, I don't think you're weird!_ Knuckles wanted to say. But he didn't want to wake (and probably embarrass) Sonic, so he stayed quiet.  
After a small silence, Sonic seemed to be lulled into a deep sleep, though still clung to Knuckles.  
Knuckles smiled softly. Then he yawned. Watching Sonic sleep was making him sleepy, too.  
As he fell asleep, he wondered how he would tell Sonic that he liked him back.

Sonic woke up sometime in the morning, a little earlier than Knuckles. He blushed, realizing the position he was in; maybe Knuckles didn't know?  
Still, he found himself simply too comfortable to leave, so he snuggled close; if Knuckles woke up, maybe he could pretend to be asleep?

Knuckles woke up not long after, yawning. "Good morning," he whispered, not sure if Sonic was awake yet.  
Sonic flinched slightly, then pulled away. "O-oh, mornin', Knux!" he greeted.  
Knuckles stifled a chuckle. "How'd you sleep?"  
Sonic's expression dulled slightly. That's right, he had a dream about _her_ , didn't he?  
"...Alright, I guess."  
Knuckles frowned a little. "Hey, you okay?" he asked softly.  
"Uh, yeah... don't worry, it was a good dream."  
"What did you dream about?" Knuckles asked as casually as he could.  
Sonic blushed, averting his gaze. "Nothin' important."  
"Ya sure?" Knuckles replied. "You were mumbling in your sleep," he added with a chuckle.  
Sonic paused. "I-I was?"  
"Yep, you sure were," Knuckles confirmed. "I'm guessing it was a very interesting dream!"  
Sonic paused at Knuckles' knowing expression. "...How much did you hear?"  
Knuckles blushed. "Enough," he answered, smiling and glancing away shyly.  
Sonic's heart was racing. "U-uh, enough? Er, erm..." He laughed halfheartedly, hoping that Knuckles heard something else. "Y-yeah, I dreamt about my mom, eheh. It was a little embarrassing, so I didn't say anything, y'know?"  
"Yeah, I figured that's what you were dreamin' about..." _Come on, Knuckles, think! How do I bring this up to him?_  
Sonic still wasn't sure. "...Was that all?"  
Knuckles' blush deepened. "W-well, uh... I _miiight've_ sort of maybe heard a _liiittle_ more than that...?"  
Immediately, Sonic was on alert. _He knows..._  
"G-geez, Knux. I-I'm so sorry. You weren't s'posed to hear that..."  
Knuckles gently placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," he said softly. "I-I, um... to be honest, I was actually really happy to hear that..." He was blushing even harder now, his heart beating faster.  
Sonic's eyes widened. "You... what? _Happy?_ " he asked.  
Knuckles nodded. He took a deep breath. "'Cause I...I've always really liked you..." he squeaked nervously. "I-in _that_ way."  
Sonic's face quickly turned red. "S-seriously? I mean, I know I'm awesome, but..." He laughed sheepishly, not expecting that response.  
Knuckles nodded. "I...I never thought you'd like me, though, so I never said anything."  
"Huh? Why wouldn't I?" Sonic questioned. "I mean, you're just as cool as me..." He blushed as he said it, but he meant it.  
Knuckles didn't think his face could flush any worse, but apparently he was wrong. "R-really?"  
"Yeah, really!" Sonic exclaimed, nodding happily. "Why wouldn't you think so?"  
"I-I dunno, I just..." Knuckles glanced down, suddenly looking sad. "I guess I just thought you'd want someone... you know... smarter?"  
Sonic's gaze softened. "Knux... y'don't have to be smart for me to like you..."  
Knuckles looked up. "R-really?"  
"Yeah, really!" Sonic chuckled at Knuckles' doubt, then pet his head. "I meant it... besides, you think I'd just let anyone pet me like you did, heh?"  
Knuckles' face flushed again as his tail started to wag. He was flustered, but he smiled and let Sonic continue petting him.  
"Yeah, no way!" Sonic continued. "You're the _only_ one I'd allow to pet me, heh."  
Knuckles smiled wider. "T-that makes me feel kinda special, hehe."  
"Good!" Sonic said.  
He hesitated, then blushed sheepishly.  
"In fact... uh... you can pet me right now, if ya want?" he offered. "it... _was_ kinda nice..."  
Knuckles grinned. "Sure!"  
He reached over and started scratching in that one special spot behind Sonic's ears.  
Sonic perked at this, immediately starting to purr. "M-mm, Knuuux..."  
Knuckles giggled. "I like it when you purr, it's so cute," he whispered, blushing.  
Sonic's blush reddened. "Y-yeah? Maybe we'll have to do this more often then!"  
"Yeah, we totally should!" Knuckles winked and grinned.  
Sonic, encouraged by his words, smirked and started petting him in return.  
Knuckles' tail started wagging again, his grin widening. He kept petting Sonic as well, the adorable purring making his tail wag even faster.  
Sonic's purring became louder, and he affectionately leaned towards Knuckles' touch.

Their petting antics continued throughout the rest of the day, and both were happier than they'd ever been.


	33. Little Knux - Part II (Sonic/Knuckles)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute short sequel we did to the "Little Knux" story. ^_^

Sonic sighed as he was slowly carried back to his shack by his small boyfriend. Out of all the injuries he could've gotten, he hurt his _leg_ of all things? Fastest thing alive hurting one of his legs; sounded like a bad joke. At the very least, Knuckles was able to get him away from Eggman, but that was only because the guy had been laughing at Sonic so hard that he couldn't do a thing.

"I'm not too heavy, am I?" Sonic asked, though he already knew the answer.  
"You're talkin' to the strongest guy on the island," Knuckles replied with a wink. "I'll getcha home in no time!"  
Sonic chuckled, feeling a little more at ease from his words. "No time for you is like, a million years for me," he joked.

"Oh look, we're home!" Knuckles said soon after.  
He entered the shack, still carrying Sonic. Pretty soon the hedgehog was lying down on his hammock.  
"Take it easy, buddy," Knuckles said, smiling softly.  
Sonic crossed him arms. "Do I gotta?"  
"Don't you wanna get better?" Knuckles asked.  
"Well, yeah, but..." Sonic pouted childishly, squirming slightly in his hammock. "Just don't like sittin' still for forever."  
"Well, it's gotta be better than hurting yourself even more," Knuckles pointed out.  
"W-well, I'm a tough hedgehog!" Sonic boasted, starting to get off a hammock. "It's probably better by now any--ACK!"  
A sharp pain from his leg caused him to fall, landing on Knuckles. "...O-okay, maybe not, ow..."  
Knuckles blushed at having Sonic on top of him.  
"Y-you okay?" he asked, frowning in concern.  
"Y-yeah." His pride was hurt worse than anything else.  
"Can we at least do somethin'?" he asked, sitting up while being careful of his injured leg.  
"Hmmm..." Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought. "Video games?" he suggested.  
Sonic nodded, then shifted slightly, moving across the floor so he was in front of the TV. "All right, c'mere then," he said, patting his good leg with a grin.  
Knuckles smiled, carefully sitting down on Sonic's lap as to not hurt his bad leg.  
Sonic handed him a controller, then started a random game. "Loser has to kiss the winner!" Sonic joked with a teasing wink.  
Knuckles blushed. "You're on!" he said with a grin.

Sonic nudged him playfully, then the round started. Knuckles was doing better at first, but his smaller hands didn't fit the controller as well and he slipped up at the last second, earning Sonic the victory.

The blue hedgehog just grinned and looked down at Knuckles. "All right, get to it!"  
Knuckles blushed again. He got up from Sonic's lap and stood face to face with him. Since Sonic was sitting down, this made it much easier for Knuckles to reach him. He stood slightly on his tip-toes and gave Sonic a kiss on the cheek, smiling shyly.  
Sonic giggled; Knuckles was still a little shy about their relationship, it seemed. "And I bet you'll be giving me a lot more, heh."  
However, as he went to start another round, his stomach starting growling. "N-nn..."  
"Hungry?" Knuckles asked.  
"Hehe, a little," Sonic admitted with a slight blush.  
"Nacho break?" Knuckles asked hopefully.  
"Sure!"  
Sonic glanced over to where all his food supplies were, then frowned. Normally, it'd be no problem, but with his leg hurt, it looked like a mile away.  
"I'll get it!" Knuckles offered. He went over to the table. He reached up, but quickly realized that the table was too high up for him. He paused for a moment, then climbed onto a chair and stood. Now he could reach things more easily!  
Sonic watched him, finding it adorable. He didn't like feeling useless, what with his hurt leg, but it was cute seeing Knuckles care for him.

Knuckles came back with some nachos and cheese dip, smiling proudly.  
Sonic smiled, turning off the game system so they could watch something on TV. "Hehe, and no couch for us to ruin!"  
"Yeah," Knuckles chuckled, remembering the chaos that had ensued that day.  
Sonic picked up a nacho, watching TV as he eagerly ate to quell his hunger; he usually rushed for a chili dog after a big fight with Eggman, but that wasn't an option right now; still, this was nice too.  
"If I hear Eggman callin' Amy my girlfriend ever again, you're gonna have to hold me back to stop me from slappin' him," he said.  
"I'd punch him for you!" Knuckles said with a laugh.  
Sonic laughed in return. "Good! We'll work on a new move for that just in case," he joked.  
"The 'He's-Not-Her-Boyfriend-He's-Mine' move?" Knuckles smirked.  
"Perfect!" Sonic said, eating another nacho. "We'll get it patented and everything!"  
Knuckles chuckled. "Sounds good to me!"

As the two finished their nachos, Sonic glanced over at Knuckles, noticing some stray cheese sauce right beside his mouth. He smirked, then pulled Knuckles close, licking the cheese sauce off.  
Knuckles squeaked in surprise, blushing heavily.  
"T-thanks," he giggled.  
"No problem," Sonic said.   
He then looked around, not feeling like playing anymore video games. "Anything you wanna do now?" he asked.  
Knuckles shrugged. "We can just watch TV I guess."  
He leaned against Sonic slightly, trying to hint that he wanted cuddles too.  
Sonic, thinking that Knuckles was cold, wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. "We have a bunch of blankets if you're cold, y'know." Since the echidna was as small as he was, he got cold easily.  
Knuckles frowned a little. Sonic hadn't understood his hint...

Then an idea popped into the little echidna's head.  
"Hey, we could make a blanket fort!" he suggested.  
"A blanket fort?" Sonic asked. He glanced over to the table and saw how many chair he had. "Yeah, I guess we could, and we can use the table if we wanna cheat," he said.  
Knuckles grinned excitedly, jumping to his feet. "So can we then?"  
"Sure! Don't think I'll be much help though," Sonic admitted, trying to stand.  
"Aw, it's okay," Knuckles replied. "I'll do it!"  
He spent the next several minutes rushing around, climbing on tables and chairs, and sometimes having to detangle himself from the blankets.

Then finally, it was finished! He stepped back to admire his handiwork. He was rather tired out from all that, but proud.  
"Hey, look at that!" Sonic said, shuffling over and laying down in the fort, relaxing back on one of the pillows. "Know what it's missin' though?"  
"What?" Knuckles asked, tilting his head.  
Sonic reached over, pulling Knuckles onto him and giving him a quick peck on the lips.  
Knuckles blushed, squirming a little as he became flustered.  
"Y-you know...th-they say blanket forts are good for cuddles..." he said shyly.  
"Oh yeah?" Sonic grinned, wrapping both arms around Knuckles and giving him gentle cuddles. "Like this?”  
"Y-yeah, l-like that," Knuckles stammered, his face flushing. He giggled softly, nuzzling Sonic affectionately.  
Sonic nuzzled him back, yawning slightly. "You wanna just sleep here?"  
"Mm...mmhmm..." Knuckles murmured, his eyelids already drooping.  
Sonic lightly stroked Knuckles' back, wanting to calm him further into sleep.  
Knuckles leaned his head against Sonic's chest, smiling softly. It didn't take long for him to drift off.

Hours later, well into the night, Knuckles was suddenly awoken by the sound of rain outside. At first, he thought it was just that, but Sonic was making a few small noises in his sleep as well.  
"Sonic?" he said softly.  
The noises continued, Sonic beginning to look distressed. He gripped Knuckles' tightly, shuddering.  
"H-help... nnn... someone, help...!"  
Knuckles was _really_ worried now. "S-Sonic, wake up!" he said in a loud whisper.  
Sonic didn't hear him, continuing to squirm in a panic.  
Knuckles began to shake him lightly by the shoulders. "Sonic!" he said more loudly this time.

Sonic jolted awake, letting out a loud gasp. "A-ah..." He glanced over to Knuckles, blushing slightly. "Knux?"  
"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked, a worried look on his face. "Seemed like you were having a bad dream..."  
Sonic blushed further, looking away in embarrassment. "I-it was nothing..."  
"You sure?" Knuckles frowned. "'Cause that didn't seem like nothing to me..."  
Sonic sighed, knowing that Knuckles wasn't going to buy it. "...I was drowning, okay?"  
"Drowning?!" Knuckles echoed. "Aww, that must've been a really scary dream..."   
He cuddled into Sonic and nuzzled him, hoping it might comfort him a little.  
Sonic stammered slightly at the sudden affection. "Y-yeah, you know I can't swim well..."  
Knuckles nodded in understanding. "...anything I can do? To make the bad dreams go away?"  
"...You're not gonna laugh at me?" Sonic asked sheepishly.  
"Why would I do that?" Knuckles asked, shocked that Sonic would think that way.  
"W-well, I mean... just with my huge fear of water and stuff... I sink like a rock."  
"Well, with my height and stuff, I can barely keep my head above the water, even in the shallow end," Knuckles chuckled sheepishly. "So yeah--I can't really swim either."  
Sonic frowned. "Yeah, but at least you don't cower in fear of goin' into deep water..."  
"Wellllll...maybe I don't actually have a fear of water, but it's still kinda scary when you're as short as me," Knuckles replied. "I mean, can you imagine how easy it would be for me to go missing?" he added, shuddering slightly.  
Sonic laughed. "Not really." He lightly pet Knuckles' head. "Heh, mostly 'cause why would I ever let you outta my sight?"  
Knuckles blushed lightly, smiling.  
"Well, what I'm trying to say is, you don't need to be embarrassed about that--especially around me," he added with a wink.  
"Heh, thanks," Sonic said with a small smile, pulling Knuckles closer and cuddling with him.  
Knuckles relaxed into Sonic's warm fur. "Feel any better now?" he asked hopefully.  
"Yeah." He affectionately scratched Knuckles head. "You're a dork, sayin' all that comforting stuff."  
"Well so are you..." Knuckles mumbled, already starting to fall back asleep.  
Sonic smirked. "You got me there." He yawned, then light kissed Knuckles' forehead. "Night!"  
"Night..." Knuckles murmured, just before drifting off once more.


End file.
